Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Cars.com from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. B. Riley Financial cut shares of Cars.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cars.com from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cars.com has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.67.

Cars.com Trading Down 4.4%

Shares of NYSE CARS opened at $9.88 on Thursday. Cars.com has a 1-year low of $7.40 and a 1-year high of $13.97. The company has a market cap of $552.01 million, a PE ratio of 22.97 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $9.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.82.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced its earnings results 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). Cars.com had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 3.73%.The company had revenue of $180.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cars.com will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CARS. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Cars.com by 122.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 16,347 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Cars.com by 23.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 6,416 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Cars.com by 19.5% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 242,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,730,000 after purchasing an additional 39,561 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Cars.com by 62.3% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 218,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,588,000 after purchasing an additional 83,848 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Cars.com by 4.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 223,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,653,000 after purchasing an additional 10,276 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

Cars.com Company Profile

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.