Karooooo (NASDAQ:KARO) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Karooooo (NASDAQ:KARO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Sunday.

KARO has been the subject of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Karooooo from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Karooooo in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Freedom Capital downgraded Karooooo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Karooooo from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Karooooo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.50.

Karooooo Stock Performance

Shares of KARO opened at $64.81 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.75. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.90 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Karooooo has a twelve month low of $41.25 and a twelve month high of $67.14.

Karooooo (NASDAQ:KARO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $96.26 million during the quarter. Karooooo had a net margin of 17.74% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, analysts expect that Karooooo will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Karooooo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Karooooo’s previous annual dividend of $1.25. This represents a dividend yield of 239.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 17th. Karooooo’s payout ratio is 76.14%.

Insider Transactions at Karooooo

In related news, CEO Isaias Jose Calisto sold 33,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.14, for a total value of $2,237,714.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 17,714,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,171,616,262.04. The trade was a 0.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 203,772 shares of company stock worth $13,149,641 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 74.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Karooooo

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Karooooo by 56.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,464,000 after acquiring an additional 10,799 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Karooooo by 216.0% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 5,529 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Karooooo during the second quarter valued at about $1,378,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Karooooo by 465.6% in the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Karooooo in the second quarter valued at about $156,000.

Karooooo News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Karooooo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Karooooo’s latest quarterly results were better than expected: earnings per share came in at $0.59 versus the $0.51 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $96.26 million. Analysts forecast approximately $2.41 in full-year EPS, supporting the company’s growth outlook and premium valuation. Karooooo earnings and stock information
• Positive Sentiment: The company increased its annual dividend to $1.50 per share from $1.25. The boost signals confidence in cash generation and may provide additional support for investor sentiment, although the reported payout ratio is relatively high.
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional ownership trends were generally favorable in the first quarter, with Arrowstreet Capital increasing its position by 35.1%, while Bank of America and Renaissance Technologies also added shares. Lazard Asset Management initiated a new position.
• Neutral Sentiment: AAII published comparison articles evaluating Karooooo against Appian, Adeia and ACI Worldwide. These are broad investment-screening pieces rather than company-specific developments and are unlikely to materially affect KARO immediately. Appian versus Karooooo comparison
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Isaias Jose Calisto sold 25,594 shares for about $1.65 million on August 4 and another 33,833 shares for approximately $2.24 million on August 5. He has also made repeated sales since late July. Although the transactions reduced his ownership only marginally, continued selling near recent highs may raise valuation and near-term upside concerns. Karooooo CEO insider sale
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Karooooo from “strong buy” to “hold,” potentially limiting enthusiasm despite the company’s favorable earnings performance and broader analyst consensus.

Karooooo Company Profile

Karooooo Ltd is a global provider of telematics software-as-a-service solutions for vehicle and fleet management. Through its flagship platform, the company delivers real-time GPS tracking, stolen vehicle recovery and driver behaviour analytics, enabling commercial fleets and automotive insurers to optimise operations, increase safety and reduce costs.

Karooooo’s SaaS platform integrates proprietary hardware devices with cloud-based analytics and mobile applications. Customers gain access to live vehicle location data, engine diagnostics, route planning tools and customizable reporting dashboards.