JPMorgan Chase & Co. Downgrades OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) to Neutral

JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $20.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock, down from their prior price target of $23.00.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on KAR. Stephens upgraded shares of OPENLANE from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded OPENLANE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of OPENLANE in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.20.

OPENLANE Price Performance

NYSE KAR opened at $19.38 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.21. The company has a market cap 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 1-year low of $15.44 and a 1-year high of $22.47.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.01. OPENLANE had a return on equity of 9.20% and a net margin of 6.27%. The firm had revenue of $455.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.64 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that OPENLANE will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in OPENLANE in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of OPENLANE by 414.6% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,182 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,758 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in OPENLANE by 435.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 2,062 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of OPENLANE during the fourth quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,314 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the period. 99.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.