Short Interest in Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) Declines By 14.3%

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM) saw a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,740,000 shares, a drop of 14.3% from the September 15th total of 2,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 547,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Autohome during the second quarter worth $28,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in shares of Autohome by 88.9% in the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,700 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Autohome by 24.2% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 4,676 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 912 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Autohome by 93.9% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 5,397 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $146,000 after acquiring an additional 2,614 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Autohome by 4.9% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,448 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. 63.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ATHM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Autohome from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price target (down from $31.00) on shares of Autohome in a report on Friday, July 19th. Benchmark downgraded Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Autohome to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd.

Autohome Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Autohome stock traded down $0.20 on Monday, hitting $32.37. The stock had a trading volume of 385,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 481,575. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $27.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.01. The stock has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The information services provider reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $4.12. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Autohome had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 25.81%. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Autohome will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Autohome declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, September 4th that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the information services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.