Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

CARS has been the topic of several other reports. B. Riley Financial cut Cars.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Cars.com from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Cars.com from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group increased their target price on Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Cars.com from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.67.

Cars.com Stock Performance

Shares of CARS stock opened at $11.29 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.35. Cars.com has a 52 week low of $7.40 and a 52 week high of $13.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $631.33 million, a PE ratio of 26.27 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $180.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.16 million. Cars.com had a net margin of 3.73% and a return on equity of 18.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cars.com news, CFO Sonia Jain sold 52,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.56, for a total value of $502,655.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 346,854 shares in the company, valued at $3,315,924.24. This represents a 13.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cars.com

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CARS. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cars.com by 130.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 20,811 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Cars.com by 16.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 440,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,579,000 after acquiring an additional 63,234 shares during the period. RBF Capital LLC raised its holdings in Cars.com by 93.3% during the first quarter. RBF Capital LLC now owns 103,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Cars.com by 10.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 211,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,717,000 after acquiring an additional 19,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Cars.com in the first quarter valued at about $1,055,000. 89.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cars.com

Cars.com operates as a leading online automotive marketplace in the United States, connecting car shoppers with new and used vehicle listings from dealerships and private sellers. The platform enables consumers to research makes and models, compare prices, read expert and user reviews, and access tools such as TrueCost to estimate ownership expenses over time. Through its website and mobile applications, Cars.com aims to simplify the car-buying process by aggregating detailed vehicle data, payment calculators, and dealership ratings into a single user-friendly experience.

On the dealer side, Cars.com provides a suite of marketing and lead-generation services designed to help automotive retailers reach potential buyers and manage their online presence.