Empowered Funds LLC Raises Holdings in Carvana Co. $CVNA

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) by 140.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 90,630 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 53,009 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Carvana were worth $5,965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Carvana in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Carvana during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Carvana during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Carvana by 152.6% during the 1st quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 96 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main purchased a new position in shares of Carvana in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. 56.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Carvana news, COO Benjamin E. Huston sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.55, for a total transaction of $3,427,500.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 458,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,447,655.25. This represents a 9.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 63,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.34, for a total value of $4,356,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,029,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,361,497.20. The trade was a 5.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 302,147 shares of company stock worth $20,418,064. 15.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Carvana in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Carvana from $39.50 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Carvana in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 price target on Carvana in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Carvana from $94.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.14.

Carvana Stock Performance

NYSE:CVNA opened at $74.24 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.34. Carvana Co. has a twelve month low of $54.46 and a twelve month high of $97.38. The company has a market capitalization of $81.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 3.46.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Carvana had a net margin of 6.26% and a return on equity of 37.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Carvana Co. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carvana Profile

Carvana Co is an online-only retailer of used vehicles that operates a consumer-facing e-commerce platform for buying and selling cars. The company markets and sells inspected, reconditioned pre-owned vehicles through its website, where shoppers can browse inventory, view detailed 360-degree photos and vehicle history reports, finance purchases, and arrange delivery or pickup. Carvana’s model is built around a digital end-to-end car buying experience that aims to simplify vehicle transactions compared with traditional dealerships.

Its products and services include direct retail sales of used cars, trade-in and purchase offers for consumer vehicles, vehicle financing and related protection products, and a seven-day return policy that allows customers to test a vehicle in everyday use.