Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,690,000 shares, a drop of 27.8% from the February 28th total of 2,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 541,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ATHM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Autohome from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $36.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com lowered Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Autohome to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Autohome has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autohome

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Autohome by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,388,268 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $165,776,000 after purchasing an additional 415,515 shares in the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Autohome by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 2,852,716 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $74,028,000 after buying an additional 191,845 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Autohome by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,475,258 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $64,233,000 after acquiring an additional 130,983 shares during the last quarter. North of South Capital LLP increased its holdings in Autohome by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. North of South Capital LLP now owns 1,965,350 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $51,001,000 after acquiring an additional 274,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Autohome by 140.5% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,718,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004,043 shares during the last quarter. 63.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Autohome Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ATHM traded up $0.40 on Tuesday, reaching $28.12. 268,575 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 502,895. The company has a 50-day moving average of $28.92 and a 200-day moving average of $28.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.20. Autohome has a 1-year low of $21.89 and a 1-year high of $34.70.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The information services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. Autohome had a net margin of 23.02% and a return on equity of 7.79%. The company had revenue of $244.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.26 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Autohome will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

About Autohome

Autohome Inc operates as an online destination for automobile consumers in the People’s Republic of China. The company delivers interactive content and tools to automobile consumers through its three websites, autohome.com.cn, che168.com, and ttpai.cn on PCs, mobile devices, mobile applications, and mini apps.