K2 Principal Fund L.P. Takes $954,000 Position in Cars.com Inc. $CARS

K2 Principal Fund L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 78,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $954,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Cars.com during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $170,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 2,181 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cars.com during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $160,000. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cars.com during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $168,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cars.com by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 966,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,788,000 after purchasing an additional 46,797 shares in the last quarter. 89.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CARS has been the subject of several recent research reports. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Cars.com from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Cars.com from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Cars.com from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cars.com from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Cars.com from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.67.

Cars.com Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CARS opened at $9.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $529.09 million, a PE ratio of 22.01 and a beta of 1.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $10.10 and a 200 day moving average of $10.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. Cars.com Inc. has a one year low of $7.40 and a one year high of $13.97.

Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $180.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.16 million. Cars.com had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 3.73%.Cars.com’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Cars.com Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cars.com Company Profile

Cars.com operates as a leading online automotive marketplace in the United States, connecting car shoppers with new and used vehicle listings from dealerships and private sellers. The platform enables consumers to research makes and models, compare prices, read expert and user reviews, and access tools such as TrueCost to estimate ownership expenses over time. Through its website and mobile applications, Cars.com aims to simplify the car-buying process by aggregating detailed vehicle data, payment calculators, and dealership ratings into a single user-friendly experience.

On the dealer side, Cars.com provides a suite of marketing and lead-generation services designed to help automotive retailers reach potential buyers and manage their online presence.