CarMax, Inc. (NYSE:KMX) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

CarMax, Inc. (NYSE:KMX) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,060,000 shares, a drop of 7.0% from the January 15th total of 12,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,870,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.4 days. Currently, 7.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

CarMax Stock Performance

NYSE KMX traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $89.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,542,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,577,692. CarMax has a 12 month low of $65.83 and a 12 month high of $91.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.93. The company has a market cap of $13.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

CarMax (NYSE:KMX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.19. CarMax had a return on equity of 7.49% and a net margin of 1.77%. The company had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. CarMax’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CarMax will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of CarMax from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of CarMax in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $86.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of CarMax from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of CarMax from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of CarMax from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CarMax has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $87.50.

Insider Activity at CarMax

In other CarMax news, SVP Jon G. Daniels sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.30, for a total value of $853,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,873.50. This trade represents a 90.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO William D. Nash sold 120,513 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.24, for a total transaction of $10,031,502.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 181,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,123,292.92. This trade represents a 39.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 264,467 shares of company stock valued at $21,915,445. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CarMax

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CarMax during the 4th quarter valued at about $273,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CarMax during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $6,942,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in CarMax by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 351,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,188,000 after buying an additional 10,898 shares in the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in CarMax by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 28,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after buying an additional 3,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in CarMax during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $600,000.

CarMax Company Profile

CarMax, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer of used vehicles and related products in the United States. It operates in two segments: CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. The CarMax Sales Operations segment offers customers a range of makes and models of used vehicles, including domestic, imported, and luxury vehicles, as well as hybrid and electric vehicles; used vehicle auctions; extended protection plans to customers at the time of sale; and reconditioning and vehicle repair services.