OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stephens raised OPENLANE from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $20.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of OPENLANE in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of OPENLANE from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, OPENLANE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

OPENLANE Stock Performance

NYSE KAR opened at $19.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 36.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.53. OPENLANE has a 52-week low of $15.44 and a 52-week high of $22.47. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.21.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. OPENLANE had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 9.20%. The company had revenue of $455.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.64 million. As a group, analysts forecast that OPENLANE will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of OPENLANE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in OPENLANE during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,822,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of OPENLANE by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,475,741 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $41,799,000 after acquiring an additional 35,214 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in OPENLANE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in OPENLANE by 344.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 178,964 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,022,000 after purchasing an additional 138,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Capital Inc. bought a new position in OPENLANE in the 4th quarter valued at $472,000. 99.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

OPENLANE Company Profile

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.