Wall Street Zen Upgrades LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) to Buy

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

TREE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of LendingTree from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of LendingTree from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LendingTree has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $65.13.

LendingTree Stock Up 6.0%

Shares of TREE stock opened at $49.47 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.42 and a 200-day moving average of $42.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26. LendingTree has a 12-month low of $33.50 and a 12-month high of $62.49. The company has a market capitalization of $669.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.18 and a beta of 1.58.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.04. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 5.33% and a positive return on equity of 25.79%. The company had revenue of $250.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.03 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that LendingTree will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at LendingTree

In other news, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 1,250 shares of LendingTree stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total value of $45,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 2,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,494.72. This trade represents a 38.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 23.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TREE. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of LendingTree by 248.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co acquired a new stake in shares of LendingTree during the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of LendingTree during the 4th quarter worth about $70,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of LendingTree by 4,509.1% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of LendingTree by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 227 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.