Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $259.96 and last traded at $259.33, with a volume of 1092533 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $248.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Carvana from $110.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Carvana to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Carvana from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Carvana from $175.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Carvana from $125.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.71.

Carvana Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.99, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 3.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $201.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.27. The firm has a market cap of $54.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26,198.20 and a beta of 3.37.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Carvana Co. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Carvana

In other news, COO Benjamin E. Huston sold 3,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $730,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 218,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,484,640. This trade represents a 1.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ernest C. Garcia II sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.69, for a total value of $15,569,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,233,131 shares in the company, valued at $6,419,586,165.39. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,327,249 shares of company stock valued at $421,876,322 over the last quarter. 17.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Carvana

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Carvana by 90.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,361,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,152,311,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,656 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Carvana by 39.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,459,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $655,727,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112,463 shares during the period. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Carvana in the 3rd quarter valued at $162,953,000. Sylebra Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Carvana in the second quarter worth $67,686,000. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP acquired a new stake in shares of Carvana in the second quarter worth $63,767,000. 56.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Carvana Company Profile

Carvana Co, together with its subsidiaries, operates an e-commerce platform for buying and selling used cars in the United States. Its platform allows customers to research and identify a vehicle; inspect it using company's 360-degree vehicle imaging technology; obtain financing and warranty coverage; purchase the vehicle; and schedule delivery or pick-up from their desktop or mobile devices.