Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) Trading 4% Higher – Here’s Why

Shares of Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) were up 4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $192.98 and last traded at $192.81. Approximately 2,131,848 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 3,841,689 shares. The stock had previously closed at $185.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Carvana in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Carvana from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Carvana from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush set a $250.00 target price on shares of Carvana and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Carvana from $277.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.71.

Carvana Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $227.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $214.18. The company has a market cap of $41.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.36 and a beta of 3.56.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $3.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. Carvana had a return on equity of 36.59% and a net margin of 1.54%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Carvana Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Carvana

In related news, COO Benjamin E. Huston sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.49, for a total transaction of $8,924,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 196,278 shares in the company, valued at $35,033,660.22. The trade was a 20.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul W. Breaux sold 1,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.08, for a total value of $367,848.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 153,240 shares in the company, valued at $41,387,059.20. The trade was a 0.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 119,784 shares of company stock worth $27,524,344. 17.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carvana

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CVNA. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Carvana during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,531,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Carvana by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 462,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,148,000 after acquiring an additional 39,089 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in Carvana by 135.5% in the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 2,994 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Carvana by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 478,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,305,000 after buying an additional 130,942 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC grew its holdings in Carvana by 115.9% during the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738 shares during the period. 56.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Carvana Company Profile

Carvana Co, together with its subsidiaries, operates an e-commerce platform for buying and selling used cars in the United States. Its platform allows customers to research and identify a vehicle; inspect it using company's 360-degree vehicle imaging technology; obtain financing and warranty coverage; purchase the vehicle; and schedule delivery or pick-up from their desktop or mobile devices.