Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) Upgraded to Buy at Citigroup

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) was upgraded by research analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $277.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $195.00. Citigroup’s target price points to a potential upside of 40.61% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on CVNA. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Carvana from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Carvana in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Carvana from $160.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Carvana from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Carvana from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.94.

Carvana Stock Down 0.7 %

Carvana stock opened at $197.00 on Wednesday. Carvana has a one year low of $40.21 and a one year high of $268.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $234.92 and a 200 day moving average of $182.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.99, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 3.25. The stock has a market cap of $40.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19,719.72 and a beta of 3.38.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. Carvana’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Carvana will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 208,495 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.43, for a total value of $46,792,532.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,362,982.76. This trade represents a 69.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ernest C. Garcia II sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.06, for a total transaction of $19,306,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,058,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,347,502,770.86. The trade was a 0.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 951,908 shares of company stock worth $199,569,285 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 17.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carvana

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVNA. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carvana by 90.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,361,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,152,311,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,656 shares during the period. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Carvana in the third quarter worth $162,953,000. Sylebra Capital LLC purchased a new position in Carvana during the second quarter worth $67,686,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in Carvana by 1,454.1% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 538,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,754,000 after acquiring an additional 503,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of Carvana in the second quarter valued at $63,767,000. 56.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.