Autohome (NYSE:ATHM) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:ATHM)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $30.11, but opened at $32.02. Autohome shares last traded at $31.56, with a volume of 399,140 shares traded.

The information services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. Autohome had a return on equity of 7.79% and a net margin of 24.36%. The firm had revenue of $244.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.26 million.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Autohome to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered Autohome from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autohome

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Autohome by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,388,268 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $165,776,000 after purchasing an additional 415,515 shares during the period. M&G PLC increased its holdings in Autohome by 9.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 296,107 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Autohome by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 2,852,716 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $74,028,000 after purchasing an additional 191,845 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Autohome by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,475,258 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $64,233,000 after purchasing an additional 130,983 shares during the period. Finally, North of South Capital LLP increased its holdings in Autohome by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. North of South Capital LLP now owns 1,965,350 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $51,001,000 after purchasing an additional 274,974 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.08% of the company’s stock.

Autohome Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a market cap of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 0.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.36 and a 200-day moving average of $27.72.

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.