LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.19 EPS

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.19), Briefing.com reports. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 19.02% and a negative return on equity of 3.15%. The company had revenue of $210.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.41 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. LendingTree updated its FY 2024 guidance to EPS and its Q3 2024 guidance to EPS.

LendingTree Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TREE traded up $1.00 on Friday, hitting $55.72. 511,483 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 165,400. LendingTree has a 52 week low of $10.12 and a 52 week high of $59.00. The company has a quick ratio of 3.71, a current ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.27. The company has a market cap of $736.90 million, a PE ratio of -5.37 and a beta of 2.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Trent Ziegler sold 8,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.30, for a total transaction of $431,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5 shares in the company, valued at $246.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Gabriel Dalporto sold 1,442 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total transaction of $72,345.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,661.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Trent Ziegler sold 8,750 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.30, for a total value of $431,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5 shares in the company, valued at $246.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,802 shares of company stock worth $673,219 over the last three months. 23.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised LendingTree from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Susquehanna increased their price objective on LendingTree from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on LendingTree from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Northland Securities increased their price objective on LendingTree from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on LendingTree from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.63.

About LendingTree

LendingTree, Inc, through its subsidiary, operates online consumer platform in the United States. It operates through three segments: Home, Consumer, and Insurance. The Home segment offers purchase mortgage, refinance mortgage, and home equity loans and lines of credit; and real estate brokerage services.