OPENLANE Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:KAR)

OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 2,353 call options on the company. This is an increase of 2,956% compared to the typical daily volume of 77 call options.

OPENLANE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KAR traded up $0.73 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.01. 938,681 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 722,857. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.30. OPENLANE has a 1-year low of $15.44 and a 1-year high of $22.47. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.53.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $455.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.64 million. OPENLANE had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 9.20%. Sell-side analysts forecast that OPENLANE will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on KAR. Stephens raised OPENLANE from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of OPENLANE from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of OPENLANE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of OPENLANE in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OPENLANE

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,759,952 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $29,708,000 after purchasing an additional 6,469 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in OPENLANE by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 33,734 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $569,000 after acquiring an additional 8,419 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in OPENLANE by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,889 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 128.7% in the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 38,852 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 21,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of OPENLANE in the third quarter valued at about $333,000. 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.