JMP Securities Reiterates Market Outperform Rating for CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG)

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating reissued by analysts at JMP Securities in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $32.00 target price on the stock. JMP Securities’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 20.85% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of CarGurus from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of CarGurus from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. B. Riley raised their price target on CarGurus from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on CarGurus from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on CarGurus from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CarGurus presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.35.

CarGurus Stock Performance

NASDAQ CARG opened at $26.48 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.28 and its 200 day moving average is $24.54. CarGurus has a fifty-two week low of $16.70 and a fifty-two week high of $29.40. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 94.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.56.

CarGurus (NASDAQ:CARG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $218.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.85 million. CarGurus had a positive return on equity of 11.06% and a negative net margin of 5.57%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CarGurus will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at CarGurus

In other news, CMO Dafna Sarnoff sold 3,107 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.42, for a total transaction of $88,300.94. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 128,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,664,815.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Dafna Sarnoff sold 3,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.42, for a total value of $88,300.94. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 128,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,664,815.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Samuel Zales sold 25,168 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.49, for a total transaction of $666,700.32. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 488,083 shares in the company, valued at $12,929,318.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 57,421 shares of company stock worth $1,567,354 in the last quarter. 17.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CarGurus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in CarGurus by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,198,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,382,000 after buying an additional 107,244 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of CarGurus by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,705,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,856,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619,076 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of CarGurus by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,208,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,357,000 after purchasing an additional 126,216 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of CarGurus by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,461,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,282,000 after purchasing an additional 89,346 shares during the period. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. grew its holdings in CarGurus by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,145,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,017,000 after purchasing an additional 31,431 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

CarGurus Company Profile

CarGurus, Inc operates an online automotive platform for buying and selling vehicles in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, U.S. Marketplace and Digital Wholesale. The company provides an online automotive marketplace where customers can search for new and used car listings from its dealers and sell their car to dealers and other consumers; and paid listings subscriptions for enhanced access to its marketplace that connects dealers to a large audience of informed and engaged consumers.