Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 518,168 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 6,216 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.48% of OPENLANE worth $10,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in OPENLANE by 15.3% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 5,045,087 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $85,161,000 after buying an additional 671,104 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in OPENLANE by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,475,741 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $41,799,000 after buying an additional 35,214 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,759,952 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,708,000 after purchasing an additional 6,469 shares during the last quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OPENLANE during the third quarter worth $10,309,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of OPENLANE by 32.5% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 545,404 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,206,000 after purchasing an additional 133,767 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

OPENLANE Stock Performance

NYSE KAR opened at $22.34 on Friday. OPENLANE, Inc. has a one year low of $15.13 and a one year high of $22.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.14, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.52.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR) last issued its earnings results 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 business 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that OPENLANE, Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KAR shares. Stephens upgraded OPENLANE from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $26.00 in a report on Friday. StockNews.com cut OPENLANE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on OPENLANE from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of OPENLANE in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.80.

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.