StockNews.com Downgrades OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) to Hold

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on KAR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of OPENLANE from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of OPENLANE in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, OPENLANE currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.00.

OPENLANE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KAR traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.03. 820,626 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 881,513. OPENLANE has a twelve month low of $12.86 and a twelve month high of $20.85. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.04, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.53. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $19.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.76.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The specialty retailer reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $431.68 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that OPENLANE will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at OPENLANE

In other OPENLANE news, CFO Brad S. Lakhia bought 4,985 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.06 per share, for a total transaction of $99,999.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,918.18. This trade represents a 53.50 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OPENLANE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KAR. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 876,398 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $14,539,000 after purchasing an additional 18,706 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of OPENLANE during the second quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 257.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 45,837 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 32,998 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 0.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,143,903 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $118,517,000 after buying an additional 50,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in OPENLANE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,243,000. 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.