Copart, Inc. (CPRT) – What Are Researchers Thinking About This Stock?

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.80.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CPRT shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Copart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Freedom Broker lowered their price target on Copart from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 14th. Barclays set a $25.00 price target on Copart and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $40.00 price objective on Copart in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Copart in a report on Wednesday, July 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Copart news, CEO Jeffrey Liaw sold 27,745 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.49, for a total value of $845,945.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 99,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,038,054.09. This represents a 21.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Copart

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Copart in the second quarter valued at about $1,908,980,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Copart during the 2nd quarter worth about $488,663,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Copart during the 2nd quarter worth about $436,413,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Copart during the 2nd quarter valued at about $191,347,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Copart during the 2nd quarter valued at about $167,000,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Copart Price Performance

Shares of CPRT opened at $27.75 on Friday. Copart has a 1-year low of $25.72 and a 1-year high of $45.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $30.13 and a 200 day moving average of $30.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.06.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 10th. The business services provider reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Copart had a net margin of 31.81% and a return on equity of 15.93%. Copart’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Copart will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Copart

Copart, Inc is a global provider of online vehicle auction and remarketing services. The company primarily sells vehicles that have been damaged, totaled, recovered from theft, or otherwise deemed uneconomical to repair. Its customers include insurance companies, automobile dealers, dismantlers, rebuilders, exporters, rental and finance companies, and members of the general public.

Copart conducts auctions through its online VB3 platform, which connects buyers with vehicles listed at the company’s facilities.