Short Interest in OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) Grows By 6.1%

OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,640,000 shares, a growth of 6.1% from the April 15th total of 3,430,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 850,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KAR shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on OPENLANE from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of OPENLANE in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised OPENLANE from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.60.

OPENLANE Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE KAR traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $17.60. The stock had a trading volume of 489,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 842,376. The firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.42. OPENLANE has a fifty-two week low of $12.86 and a fifty-two week high of $18.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.51.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $416.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.19 million. OPENLANE had a positive return on equity of 8.53% and a negative net margin of 9.04%. OPENLANE’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that OPENLANE will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP James P. Coyle sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.09, for a total transaction of $108,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $432,079.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Peter J. Kelly purchased 10,000 shares of OPENLANE stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.87 per share, for a total transaction of $148,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 323,355 shares in the company, valued at $4,808,288.85. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James P. Coyle sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.09, for a total transaction of $108,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $432,079.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.74% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OPENLANE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of OPENLANE by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 60,532 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,716 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 4,370 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of OPENLANE by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,443 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in OPENLANE by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,134 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 2,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new position in OPENLANE during the third quarter valued at approximately $944,000. 99.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.