Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) Short Interest Down 27.8% in March

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,690,000 shares, a decrease of 27.8% from the February 28th total of 2,340,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 541,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ATHM shares. StockNews.com lowered Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Autohome to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Autohome from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research note 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.00.

Institutional Trading of Autohome

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in Autohome by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,564 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,841 shares during the period. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Autohome in the third quarter valued at about $228,000. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Autohome during the 4th quarter worth about $231,000. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Autohome by 1,135.5% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 9,872 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 9,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Autohome during the 4th quarter worth about $257,000. 63.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Autohome Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ATHM traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.74. The company had a trading volume of 359,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 504,009. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.20. Autohome has a 1-year low of $21.89 and a 1-year high of $34.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $28.92 and its 200-day moving average is $28.60.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The information services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $244.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.26 million. Autohome had a net margin of 23.02% and a return on equity of 7.79%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Autohome will post 1.84 earnings per share 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.