OPENLANE Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:KAR)

OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 2,353 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 2,956% compared to the typical volume of 77 call options.

OPENLANE Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:KAR opened at $20.22 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.33. OPENLANE has a 52 week low of $15.44 and a 52 week high of $22.47. The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.53.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $455.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $416.64 million. OPENLANE had a net margin of 6.27% and a return on equity of 9.20%. On average, analysts expect that OPENLANE will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KAR shares. Stephens raised shares of OPENLANE from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $26.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of OPENLANE from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of OPENLANE in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut OPENLANE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, OPENLANE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.20.

Institutional Trading of OPENLANE

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in OPENLANE in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 414.6% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,182 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,758 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 435.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 2,062 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in OPENLANE during the fourth quarter worth $68,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in OPENLANE by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,314 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

OPENLANE Company Profile

OPENLANE, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital marketplace for used vehicles, which connects sellers and buyers in North America, Europe, the Philippines, and Uruguay. The company operates through two segments, Marketplace and Finance. The Marketplace segment offers digital marketplace services for buying and selling used vehicles.