Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,690,000 shares, a decline of 27.8% from the February 28th total of 2,340,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 541,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATHM has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Autohome to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Autohome from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $36.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autohome

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Autohome by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 13,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Autohome by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 10,399 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Autohome by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 126,612 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Autohome by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,564 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 1,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Autohome by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 15,488 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 2,221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.08% of the company’s stock.

Autohome Price Performance

Autohome stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $27.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 190,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 502,761. Autohome has a 52-week low of $21.89 and a 52-week high of $34.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $28.92 and its 200 day moving average is $28.61. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03 and a beta of 0.20.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The information services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $244.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.26 million. Autohome had a net margin of 23.02% and a return on equity of 7.79%. As a group, analysts forecast that Autohome will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Autohome Company Profile

Autohome Inc operates as an online destination for automobile consumers in the People’s Republic of China. The company delivers interactive content and tools to automobile consumers through its three websites, autohome.com.cn, che168.com, and ttpai.cn on PCs, mobile devices, mobile applications, and mini apps.