Auto Trader Group (AUTO) Share Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

About Auto Trader Auto Trader Group plc is the UK’s largest automotive platform. It listed on the London Stock Exchange in March 2015 and is a member of the FTSE 100 Index. Auto Trader’s purpose is Driving Change Together. Responsibly. Auto Trader is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture, it aims to build stronger partnerships with its customers and use its voice and influence to drive more environmentally friendly vehicle choices. With the largest number of car buyers and the largest choice of trusted stock, Auto Trader’s marketplace sits at the heart of the UK car buying process. That marketplace is built on an industry-leading technology and data platform, which is increasingly used across the automotive industry. Auto Trader is continuing to bring more of the car buying journey online, creating an improved buying experience, whilst enabling all its retailer partners to sell vehicles online. Auto Trader publishes a monthly used car Retail Price Index which is based on pricing analysis of circa 800,000 unique vehicles. The same data that powers the Index is used by the Office for National Statistics to make the UK’s official measures of inflation more robust, as well as the Bank of England to feed the broader UK economic indicators. For more information, please visit: https://plc.autotrader.co.uk/

Key Stats

• Today's Range: 765.04 to 777.40
• 50-Day Range: 764.72 to 815
• 52-Week Range: 666 to 899
• Volume: 2.97 million shs
• Average Volume: 7.55 million shs
• Market Capitalization: £6.82 billion
• P/E Ratio: 27.37
• Dividend Yield: 1.29%
• Price Target: GBX 864.25
• Consensus Rating: Reduce

Auto Trader Group Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Auto Trader Group scored higher than 23% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Reduce

Consensus Rating

Auto Trader Group has received a consensus rating of Reduce. The company's average rating score is 1.80, and is based on 1 buy rating, 2 hold ratings, and 2 sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Auto Trader Group has only been the subject of 2 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: N/A

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Auto Trader Group is 27.37, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 23.34.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Auto Trader Group is 27.37, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Communication Services sector average P/E ratio of about 24.78.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Auto Trader Group has a PEG Ratio of 3.99. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Auto Trader Group has a P/B Ratio of 12.75. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: N/A
• Short Interest Level: N/A

Short Interest

There is no current short interest data available for AUTO.

Dividend

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Yield

Auto Trader Group pays a meaningful dividend of 1.26%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Auto Trader Group does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Auto Trader Group is 35.44%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 1.8 / 5
• Environmental Score: -2.90

Short Interest

There is no current short interest data available for AUTO.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.3 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.15

News Sentiment

Auto Trader Group has a news sentiment score of 0.15. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.52 average news sentiment score of Communication Services companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 4 news articles for Auto Trader Group this week, compared to 2 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 2 people have searched for AUTO on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of 0% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

1 people have added Auto Trader Group to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Auto Trader Group insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 1.04% of the stock of Auto Trader Group is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

69.06% of the stock of Auto Trader Group is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

AUTO Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have AUTO shares performed this year?

Auto Trader Group's stock was trading at GBX 793 on January 1st, 2025. Since then, AUTO shares have decreased by 2.6% and is now trading at GBX 772.40.
View the best growth stocks for 2025 here.

How were Auto Trader Group's earnings last quarter?

Auto Trader Group plc (LON:AUTO) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November, 7th. The company reported $15.56 earnings per share for the quarter. Auto Trader Group had a net margin of 45.00% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 47.03%.

How do I buy shares of Auto Trader Group?

Shares of AUTO stock and other U.K. stocks can be purchased through online brokerage accounts that support trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSX). Some U.K. companies can be purchased through major U.S. brokerages in the form of American Depository Receipts (ADRs), which are placeholder equities held in a trust by a bank that represent shares of a foreign stock.

What other stocks do shareholders of Auto Trader Group own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Auto Trader Group investors own include Associated British Foods (ABF), Bank of America (BAC), HSBC (HSBA), Tesla (TSLA), AMC Entertainment (AMC), Intelsat (I) and Intel (INTC).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 11/07/2024
• Ex-Dividend for 1/24 Dividend: 1/02/2025
• Dividend Payable: 1/24/2025
• Today: 2/22/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: LON
• Sector: Communication Services
• Industry: Internet Content & Information
• Sub-Industry: N/A
• Current Symbol: LON:AUTO
• CUSIP: N/A
• CIK: N/A
• Web: about-us.autotrader.co.uk
• Phone: +44-161-6699888
• Fax: N/A
• Employees: 1,066
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: GBX 864.25
• High Stock Price Target: GBX 946
• Low Stock Price Target: GBX 746
• Potential Upside/Downside: +11.9%
• Consensus Rating: Reduce
• Rating Score (0-4): 1.80
• Research Coverage: 5 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): GBX 28.22
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 27.37
• Forward P/E Ratio: 23.55
• P/E Growth: 3.99
• Net Income: £248.87 million
• Net Margins: 45.00%
• Pretax Margin: N/A
• Return on Equity: 47.03%
• Return on Assets: 33.79%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 6.26
• Current Ratio: 1.66
• Quick Ratio: 1.50

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: £553.06 million
• Price / Sales: 12.33
• Cash Flow: GBX 2.62 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 294.95
• Book Value: GBX 60.59 per share
• Price / Book: 12.75

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 883,043,025
• Free Float: N/A
• Market Cap: £6.82 billion
• Optionable: Not Optionable
• Beta: 0.78