Short Interest in Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Decreases By 7.8%

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, a drop of 7.8% from the August 31st total of 1,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 572,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CARS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Cars.com from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. B. Riley dropped their price objective on Cars.com from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Cars.com from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th.

Insider Transactions at Cars.com

In other news, CEO Thomas Alex Vetter sold 17,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.23, for a total value of $339,871.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 598,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,517,500.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cars.com

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Greenvale Capital LLP raised its stake in shares of Cars.com by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Greenvale Capital LLP now owns 4,628,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,801,000 after purchasing an additional 90,222 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Cars.com by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 44,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cars.com by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,078,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,252,000 after purchasing an additional 175,094 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cars.com by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,216,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,983,000 after purchasing an additional 81,645 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Cars.com by 253.2% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

Cars.com Trading Down 1.0 %

Cars.com stock traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $16.60. 631,315 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 474,536. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 2.11. Cars.com has a fifty-two week low of $14.82 and a fifty-two week high of $21.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.16.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $178.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.51 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 6.70% and a net margin of 3.51%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cars.com will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current year.

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.