Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) Short Interest Update

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,400,000 shares, a growth of 7.7% from the December 15th total of 12,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVNA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Carvana from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Carvana from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Carvana from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Carvana from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $195.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Carvana in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.94.

Insider Activity at Carvana

In related news, major shareholder Ernest C. Garcia II sold 100,000 shares of Carvana stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.20, for a total value of $19,720,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,458,131 shares in the company, valued at $7,386,743,433.20. The trade was a 0.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 208,495 shares of Carvana stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.43, for a total transaction of $46,792,532.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 90,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,362,982.76. This represents a 69.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 537,360 shares of company stock worth $120,119,781. Corporate insiders own 17.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carvana

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Carvana during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,531,000. Oak Thistle LLC boosted its stake in shares of Carvana by 115.9% during the 4th quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Carvana by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 382,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,807,000 after purchasing an additional 95,497 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in shares of Carvana during the 4th quarter worth about $609,000. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Carvana by 124.9% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 581,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,888,000 after purchasing an additional 323,153 shares during the last quarter. 56.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Carvana Stock Performance

Shares of CVNA opened at $230.59 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.80. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.99. The company has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23,082.38 and a beta of 3.38. Carvana has a 52-week low of $40.21 and a 52-week high of $268.34.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Carvana will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Carvana

Carvana Co, together with its subsidiaries, operates an e-commerce platform for buying and selling used cars in the United States. Its platform allows customers to research and identify a vehicle; inspect it using company's 360-degree vehicle imaging technology; obtain financing and warranty coverage; purchase the vehicle; and schedule delivery or pick-up from their desktop or mobile devices.