StockNews.com Upgrades LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) to “Buy”

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on TREE. Susquehanna lifted their target price on LendingTree from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on LendingTree from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on LendingTree from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Stephens lifted their price objective on LendingTree from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.13.

LendingTree Stock Up 0.5 %

TREE stock opened at $45.88 on Tuesday. LendingTree has a twelve month low of $10.12 and a twelve month high of $59.00. The company has a market cap of $612.04 million, a PE ratio of -4.40 and a beta of 2.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.82, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.19). LendingTree had a negative return on equity of 2.98% and a negative net margin of 19.02%. The firm had revenue of $210.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.41 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that LendingTree will post -0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven Ozonian sold 1,610 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.31, for a total value of $71,339.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,784 shares in the company, valued at $300,599.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 23.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in LendingTree by 6.6% in the 1st 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. Emerald Advisers LLC raised its position in LendingTree by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 345,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,386,000 after purchasing an additional 2,247 shares during the last quarter. Shenkman Capital Management Inc. raised its position in LendingTree by 186.2% in the 4th quarter. Shenkman Capital Management Inc. now owns 343,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,413,000 after purchasing an additional 223,440 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in LendingTree by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 292,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,182,000 after purchasing an additional 58,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust raised its position in LendingTree by 9.3% in the 2nd 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. Institutional investors own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

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.