Short Interest in Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) Increases By 6.8%

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,730,000 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the March 31st total of 1,620,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 399,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Cars.com in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cars.com presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Thomas Alex Vetter sold 14,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $284,981.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,886 shares in the company, valued at $10,523,834. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Thomas Alex Vetter sold 14,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $284,981.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 553,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,523,834. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Douglas Neal Miller sold 1,823 shares of Cars.com stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.50, for a total value of $33,725.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 181,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,359,526. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,488 shares of company stock valued at $654,361. Corporate insiders own 2.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cars.com

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners raised its stake in Cars.com by 120.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,723,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,519,000 after buying an additional 940,376 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in Cars.com by 94.6% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 252,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,788,000 after acquiring an additional 122,665 shares during the period. Greenvale Capital LLP grew its position in 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 buying an additional 90,222 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,134,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,292,000 after buying an additional 89,194 shares during the period. Finally, Capula Management Ltd acquired a new position in Cars.com in the third quarter worth approximately $794,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.15% of the company’s stock.

Cars.com Stock Performance

Shares of CARS stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $16.70. The stock had a trading volume of 22,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 380,481. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.83. Cars.com has a fifty-two week low of $14.82 and a fifty-two week high of $22.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 2.05.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $179.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.40 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 25.78% and a net margin of 17.19%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cars.com will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

About Cars.com

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.