Short Interest in ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA) Rises By 20.9%

ACV Auctions Inc. (NASDAQ:ACVA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,240,000 shares, a growth of 20.9% from the February 28th total of 10,120,000 shares. Currently, 7.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACVA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of ACV Auctions in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Stephens raised shares of ACV Auctions to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 1st. Bank of America raised ACV Auctions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of ACV Auctions in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on ACV Auctions from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ACV Auctions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.14.

ACV Auctions Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ACVA opened at $14.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $17.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.51. ACV Auctions has a fifty-two week low of $12.77 and a fifty-two week high of $23.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.62 and a beta of 1.73.

ACV Auctions (NASDAQ:ACVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $159.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.77 million. ACV Auctions had a negative net margin of 12.51% and a negative return on equity of 12.94%. As a group, analysts predict that ACV Auctions will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at ACV Auctions

In other news, CEO George Chamoun sold 348,249 shares of ACV Auctions stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.34, for a total value of $5,342,139.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,821,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,277,100.62. The trade was a 10.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO William Zerella sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.57, for a total value of $308,550.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 462,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,512,637.64. The trade was a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 423,411 shares of company stock worth $6,776,916. 8.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of ACV Auctions

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACVA. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in ACV Auctions by 65.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of ACV Auctions by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 44,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $953,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of ACV Auctions by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 141,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,064,000 after buying an additional 1,906 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ACV Auctions by 5.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 40,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after buying an additional 2,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in ACV Auctions by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 44,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $950,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.55% of the company’s stock.

About ACV Auctions

ACV Auctions Inc operates a digital marketplace that connects buyers and sellers for the online auction of wholesale vehicles. The company’s marketplace platform includes digital marketplace, which connects buyers and sellers by providing online auction, which facilitates real-time transactions of wholesale vehicles; Run List for pre-filtering and pre-screening of vehicles up to 24 hours prior to an auction taking place; ACV transportation service to enable the buyers to see real-time transportation quotes and status reports of the vehicle; ACV capital, a short-term inventory financing services for buyers to purchase vehicles; and Go Green’s seller assurance service for against claims related to defects in the vehicle.