OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) Coverage Initiated at Stephens

Analysts at Stephens assumed coverage on shares of OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “equal weight” rating and a $20.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock. Stephens’ price target indicates a potential downside of 2.85% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on KAR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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 reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of OPENLANE in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of OPENLANE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.60.

OPENLANE Price Performance

KAR stock opened at $20.59 on Wednesday. OPENLANE has a 52-week low of $12.86 and a 52-week high of $20.85. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.52.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The specialty retailer reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $448.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $431.68 million. OPENLANE had a net margin of 4.26% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that OPENLANE will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Brad S. Lakhia acquired 4,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.06 per share, with a total value of $99,999.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 14,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $286,918.18. This represents 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

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KAR. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 5.3% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,822 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 0.9% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 112,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 2.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 54,254 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 6.6% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,889 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 41,912 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,477 shares during the last quarter. 99.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.