LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.13.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on TREE shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on LendingTree from $56.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on LendingTree from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Northland Securities upped their target price on LendingTree from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Stephens boosted their price target on LendingTree from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on LendingTree from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LendingTree

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alta Park Capital LP purchased a new stake in LendingTree in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,297,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of LendingTree by 185.2% in the first quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 19,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 12,889 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of LendingTree by 697.5% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 12,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,049 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust raised its stake in shares of LendingTree by 9.3% in the second quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 280,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,676,000 after purchasing an additional 23,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of LendingTree by 6.6% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 364,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,419,000 after purchasing an additional 22,581 shares during the last quarter. 68.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LendingTree Price Performance

Shares of LendingTree stock opened at $57.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.45. LendingTree has a one year low of $10.12 and a one year high of $62.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market cap of $761.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.55 and a beta of 2.12.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.19). LendingTree had a negative net margin of 19.02% and a negative return on equity of 2.98%. The business had revenue of $210.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. LendingTree’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that LendingTree will post -0.36 EPS for the current year.

LendingTree Company Profile

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.