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

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. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 533,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ATHM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. CLSA lowered shares of Autohome from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark lowered shares of Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Autohome from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 price target (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Autohome in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Autohome to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three 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, Autohome has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autohome

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M&G PLC lifted its position in Autohome by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 3,384,865 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $111,701,000 after acquiring an additional 296,107 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Autohome by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 2,212 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Autohome by 106.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 683,144 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,284,000 after buying an additional 351,789 shares during the last quarter. Oldfield Partners LLP grew its stake in Autohome by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Oldfield Partners LLP now owns 242,200 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,901,000 after buying an additional 5,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Autohome by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 93,973 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,065,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. 63.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Autohome Stock Performance

ATHM traded down $0.78 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.22. 175,278 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 475,966. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.16. Autohome has a fifty-two week low of $21.89 and a fifty-two week high of $34.70.

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

Autohome declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, September 4th that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the information services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.