Essex Financial Services Inc. Makes New Investment in CarMax, Inc. (NYSE:KMX)

Essex Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in CarMax, Inc. (NYSE:KMX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KMX. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in CarMax by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,342,000 after buying an additional 2,060 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of CarMax during the fourth quarter valued at $811,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of CarMax during the fourth quarter worth about $383,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of CarMax by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in CarMax by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 17,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,446,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on KMX shares. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of CarMax from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens assumed coverage on CarMax in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $86.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on CarMax from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on CarMax from $92.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of CarMax from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CarMax presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.50.

CarMax Stock Performance

NYSE:KMX opened at $87.64 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $83.32 and a 200-day moving average of $79.83. The firm has a market cap of $13.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92. CarMax, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.83 and a twelve month high of $91.25.

CarMax (NYSE:KMX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.05 billion. CarMax had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 7.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that CarMax, Inc. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO William D. Nash sold 120,513 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.24, for a total value of $10,031,502.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 181,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,123,292.92. This represents a 39.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Jill A. Livesay sold 13,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $1,053,729.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $765,288. This represents a 57.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 264,467 shares of company stock worth $21,915,445 in the last three months. 1.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CarMax Profile

CarMax, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer of used vehicles and related products in the United States. It operates in two segments: CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. The CarMax Sales Operations segment offers customers a range of makes and models of used vehicles, including domestic, imported, and luxury vehicles, as well as hybrid and electric vehicles; used vehicle auctions; extended protection plans to customers at the time of sale; and reconditioning and vehicle repair services.