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

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

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on KAR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of OPENLANE from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of OPENLANE in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

OPENLANE Stock Down 1.6 %

OPENLANE stock traded down $0.32 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $19.98. The stock had a trading volume of 1,045,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 702,035. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $18.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.47. OPENLANE has a 1 year low of $12.86 and a 1 year high of $20.85. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.53.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The specialty retailer reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.04. OPENLANE had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 4.26%. The firm had revenue of $448.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $431.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that OPENLANE will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at OPENLANE

In other OPENLANE news, CFO Brad S. Lakhia bought 4,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.06 per share, for a total transaction of $99,999.10. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,918.18. The trade was a 53.50 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of OPENLANE

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KAR. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 175.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,598 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in OPENLANE by 201.4% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,375 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in OPENLANE during the second quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Creative Planning purchased a new position in shares of OPENLANE during the third quarter worth approximately $193,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of OPENLANE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Institutional investors 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.