OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Stephens

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) was upgraded by analysts at Stephens from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $26.00 price target on the specialty retailer’s stock, up from their previous price target of $20.00. Stephens’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 16.41% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on KAR. StockNews.com lowered shares of OPENLANE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 22nd. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of OPENLANE in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.80.

OPENLANE Stock Performance

NYSE:KAR opened at $22.34 on Friday. OPENLANE has a fifty-two week low of $15.13 and a fifty-two week high of $22.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $20.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.14, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OPENLANE

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