Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of 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. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 533,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ATHM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Autohome from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark downgraded shares of Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. CLSA downgraded shares of Autohome from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Autohome in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Autohome to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Autohome Stock Down 2.7 %

NYSE ATHM traded down $0.78 on Thursday, hitting $28.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 175,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 475,966. Autohome has a 1-year low of $21.89 and a 1-year high of $34.70. The company’s 50-day moving average is $29.10 and its 200 day moving average is $27.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.16.

Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The information services provider reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $4.12. Autohome had a net margin of 25.81% and a return on equity of 8.19%. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Autohome will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Autohome declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, September 4th that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the information services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autohome

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its position in shares of Autohome by 0.9% during the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 4,695,298 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $123,111,000 after buying an additional 42,817 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 568,474 shares during the period. M&G PLC increased its position in shares of Autohome by 9.6% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 3,384,865 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $111,701,000 after buying an additional 296,107 shares during the period. M&G Plc increased its position in shares of Autohome by 3.3% during the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 3,088,758 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $83,396,000 after buying an additional 97,994 shares during the period. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Autohome by 10.7% during the second quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 2,816,972 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $77,326,000 after buying an additional 272,092 shares during the period. 63.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.