OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

KAR has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on OPENLANE from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of OPENLANE in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, OPENLANE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

OPENLANE Price Performance

Shares of KAR opened at $19.98 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $18.52 and a 200-day moving average of $17.49. OPENLANE has a 1 year low of $12.86 and a 1 year high of $20.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.53.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The specialty retailer reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.04. OPENLANE had a net margin of 4.26% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $448.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $431.68 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that OPENLANE will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Brad S. Lakhia acquired 4,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.06 per share, for a total transaction of $99,999.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,303 shares in the company, valued at $286,918.18. The trade was a 53.50 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of OPENLANE

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in OPENLANE by 15.3% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 5,045,087 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $85,161,000 after buying an additional 671,104 shares during the last quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of OPENLANE during the third quarter worth about $10,309,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OPENLANE in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,243,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in OPENLANE by 293.5% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 243,164 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,034,000 after acquiring an additional 181,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in OPENLANE by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,441,923 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $23,922,000 after purchasing an additional 181,130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

About OPENLANE

OPENLANE, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital marketplace for used vehicles, which connects sellers and buyers in North America, Europe, the Philippines, and Uruguay. The company operates through two segments, Marketplace and Finance. The Marketplace segment offers digital marketplace services for buying and selling used vehicles.