LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Rating Lowered to Hold at Zacks Research

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on LendingTree from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised LendingTree from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $62.00 price objective on LendingTree and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.38.

LendingTree Price Performance

TREE opened at $64.73 on Monday. LendingTree has a fifty-two week low of $33.50 and a fifty-two week high of $77.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.57 and a 200 day moving average of $49.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $881.62 million, a P/E ratio of -15.94 and a beta of 1.69.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $250.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.03 million. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 5.33% and a positive return on equity of 25.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that LendingTree will post 0.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jason Bengel sold 6,469 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.86, for a total transaction of $445,455.34. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $448,760.62. The trade was a 49.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Diego A. Rodriguez sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.78, for a total value of $83,736.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,113 shares in the company, valued at $566,125.14. This trade represents a 12.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,669 shares of company stock worth $598,331. 23.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LendingTree

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in LendingTree by 68.0% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of LendingTree by 4,926.7% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 2,217 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in LendingTree by 17.0% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 148,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,454,000 after buying an additional 21,539 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in LendingTree during the second quarter valued at $7,337,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in LendingTree by 60,092.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,150,000 after buying an additional 22,835 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

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.