Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) Short Interest Update

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) saw a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,910,000 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the September 30th total of 1,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 533,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autohome

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Autohome during the first quarter worth $77,760,000. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Autohome during the second quarter worth about $22,501,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Autohome by 14.7% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,440,462 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $121,859,000 after acquiring an additional 568,474 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Autohome by 106.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 683,144 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,284,000 after acquiring an additional 351,789 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC increased its holdings in shares of Autohome by 9.6% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 3,384,865 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $111,701,000 after acquiring an additional 296,107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.08% of the company’s stock.

Autohome Stock Performance

Shares of ATHM stock opened at $28.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.32. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.16. Autohome has a 52-week low of $21.89 and a 52-week high of $34.70.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The information services provider reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $4.12. Autohome had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 25.81%. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Autohome will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Autohome declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, September 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ATHM. StockNews.com raised shares of Autohome from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Autohome to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Benchmark lowered Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 target price (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Autohome in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, CLSA cut Autohome from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three equities 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.00.

About Autohome

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.