Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $30.11, but opened at $32.02. Autohome shares last traded at $31.56, with a volume of 399,140 shares traded.

The information services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. Autohome had a return on equity of 7.79% and a net margin of 24.36%. The company had revenue of $244.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.26 million.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Autohome from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. CLSA downgraded Autohome from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Autohome to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ATHM. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Autohome by 140.5% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,718,761 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $44,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004,043 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Autohome during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $12,195,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Autohome by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,388,268 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,776,000 after acquiring an additional 415,515 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Autohome by 106.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 351,789 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 296,107 shares during the period. 63.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Autohome Trading Down 0.8 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.36 and a 200-day moving average of $27.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 0.18.

About Autohome

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.