Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 172,919 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,917 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Autohome worth $5,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ATHM. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Autohome during the second quarter worth about $22,501,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Autohome by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,440,462 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $121,859,000 after purchasing an additional 568,474 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Autohome by 106.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 683,144 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,284,000 after buying an additional 351,789 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC grew its holdings in Autohome by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 3,384,865 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $111,701,000 after buying an additional 296,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC increased its position in Autohome by 10.7% during the second quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 2,816,972 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $77,326,000 after buying an additional 272,092 shares in the last quarter. 63.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Autohome Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ATHM opened at $27.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 0.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $29.75 and a 200-day moving average of $27.61. Autohome Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.89 and a 52-week high of $34.70.

Autohome Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a Variable dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 5.8%. This is an increase from Autohome’s previous Variable dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Autohome’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.58%.

Autohome announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, September 4th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ATHM. CLSA downgraded shares of Autohome from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Autohome to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Autohome Company Profile

Autohome Inc operates as an online destination for automobile consumers in the People’s Republic of China. The company delivers interactive content and tools to automobile consumers through its three websites, autohome.com.cn, che168.com, and ttpai.cn on PCs, mobile devices, mobile applications, and mini apps.