Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Short Interest Update

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,730,000 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the March 31st total of 1,620,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 399,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Cars.com

In other news, CEO Thomas Alex Vetter sold 17,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $335,654.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 568,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,808,815. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Thomas Alex Vetter sold 17,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $335,654.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 568,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,808,815. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Douglas Neal Miller sold 1,823 shares of Cars.com stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.50, for a total transaction of $33,725.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 181,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,359,526. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,488 shares of company stock valued at $654,361. Insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Cars.com by 118.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 896 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Cars.com by 103.8% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Cars.com by 109.1% in the fourth quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 3,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 45,000 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Cars.com in the fourth quarter valued at about $119,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Cars.com in the fourth quarter worth about $144,000. 89.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cars.com Stock Performance

NYSE CARS opened at $16.60 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $17.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.83. Cars.com has a 52-week low of $14.82 and a 52-week high of $22.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 2.05.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.07). Cars.com had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 25.78%. The company had revenue of $179.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Cars.com will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cars.com currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.00.

Cars.com Company Profile

Cars.com Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a digital automotive marketplace that connects local car dealers to consumers in the United States. The company offers a suite of digital solutions that creates connections between individuals researching cars or looking to purchase a car with car dealerships and automotive original equipment manufacturers.