Short Interest in Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) Grows By 7.7%

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,400,000 shares, a growth of 7.7% from the December 15th total of 12,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CVNA shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Carvana from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Carvana from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Carvana in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Carvana from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Carvana from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Carvana has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.94.

Insider Activity at Carvana

In related news, major shareholder Ernest C. Garcia II sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.79, for a total value of $19,079,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,658,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,184,794,813.49. This represents a 0.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark W. Jenkins sold 208,495 shares of Carvana stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.43, for a total transaction of $46,792,532.85. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 90,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,362,982.76. The trade was a 69.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 651,908 shares of company stock valued at $142,079,285 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 17.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CVNA. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Carvana by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Carvana by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 27,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,657,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Carvana by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 5,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Carvana by 3.5% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in Carvana by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.71% of the company’s stock.

Carvana Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CVNA traded down $1.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $230.59. 3,102,589 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,796,350. Carvana has a 12-month low of $40.21 and a 12-month high of $268.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $231.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.66. 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 has a market cap of $47.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23,082.38 and a beta of 3.38.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. Carvana’s revenue was up 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Carvana will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Carvana

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.