StockNews.com Upgrades OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on KAR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on OPENLANE from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of OPENLANE in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, OPENLANE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

OPENLANE Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:KAR opened at $19.83 on Friday. OPENLANE has a 52-week low of $12.86 and a 52-week high of $20.85. The firm has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.27, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.92.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The specialty retailer reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $448.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $431.68 million. OPENLANE had a net margin of 4.26% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that OPENLANE will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other OPENLANE news, CFO Brad S. Lakhia bought 4,985 shares of OPENLANE stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.06 per share, for a total transaction of $99,999.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,918.18. This trade represents a 53.50 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 201.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,375 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,587 shares during the period. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in OPENLANE during the third quarter valued at $193,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in OPENLANE during the second quarter valued at $204,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new position in OPENLANE in the second quarter valued at about $233,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its position in OPENLANE by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 2,470 shares during the last quarter. 99.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About OPENLANE

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.