OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $20.99, but opened at $19.61. OPENLANE shares last traded at $19.93, with a volume of 261,125 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KAR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of OPENLANE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of OPENLANE in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered OPENLANE from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens raised OPENLANE from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $20.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.20.

OPENLANE Stock Down 5.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.21.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $455.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.64 million. OPENLANE had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 6.27%. As a group, analysts forecast that OPENLANE, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OPENLANE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in OPENLANE in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 414.6% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,182 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 435.9% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 2,062 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of OPENLANE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of OPENLANE by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,314 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

OPENLANE Company Profile

OPENLANE, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital marketplace for used vehicles, which connects sellers and buyers in North America, Europe, the Philippines, and Uruguay. The company operates through two segments, Marketplace and Finance. The Marketplace segment offers digital marketplace services for buying and selling used vehicles.