Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GRPN. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Groupon from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Roth Capital boosted their price objective on Groupon from $33.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Northland Securities boosted their price objective on Groupon from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. UBS Group started coverage on Groupon in a research note on Thursday. They set a “mixed” rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Groupon from $9.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Groupon currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

Groupon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GRPN opened at $32.98 on Friday. Groupon has a 1-year low of $7.75 and a 1-year high of $43.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.16, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of -137.41 and a beta of 1.15.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The coupon company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.48. Groupon had a negative return on equity of 19.61% and a negative net margin of 1.89%. The firm had revenue of $125.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.46 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Groupon will post -0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GRPN. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Groupon by 90.3% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 22,596 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 10,722 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Groupon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Groupon by 115.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,559 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 78,423 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in Groupon by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 12,519 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 3,342 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Groupon by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 69,330 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 14,120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

About Groupon

Groupon, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a marketplace that connects consumers to merchants. It operates in two segments, North America and International. The company sells goods or services on behalf of third-party merchants. It serves customers through its mobile applications and websites.