Stephens Initiates Coverage on LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE)

Key Points

• Stephens initiated coverage of LendingTree with a “strong-buy” rating. Across analysts, the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $53.60.
• LendingTree reported quarterly EPS of -$5.15, missing the $1.26 consensus estimate, while revenue of $343.59 million topped estimates and rose 11.6% year over year.
• LendingTree shares rose 1.3% to $35.76 on Thursday.

Equities researchers at Stephens started coverage on shares of LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Thursday, Zacks reports. The brokerage set a "strong-buy" rating on the financial services provider's stock.

TREE has been the subject of several other research reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on LendingTree from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of LendingTree from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of LendingTree from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Northland Securities set a $60.00 price target on shares of LendingTree in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of LendingTree from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, November 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, LendingTree presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $53.60.

LendingTree Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of LendingTree stock traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $35.76. 221,678 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 409,727. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.86. LendingTree has a fifty-two week low of $23.50 and a fifty-two week high of $68.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $502.07 million, a P/E ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 1.99.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The financial services provider reported ($5.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by ($6.41). LendingTree had a net margin of 7.60% and a return on equity of 15.92%. The company had revenue of $343.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. LendingTree's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that LendingTree will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of LendingTree

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in LendingTree by 33.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 274,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,765,000 after acquiring an additional 68,466 shares in the last quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of LendingTree during the 2nd quarter worth $32,140,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of LendingTree during the 2nd quarter worth $1,825,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of LendingTree in the second quarter worth $1,612,000. Finally, S Squared Technology LLC bought a new position in shares of LendingTree in the second quarter worth $4,795,190. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.26% of the company's stock.

About LendingTree

LendingTree, Inc. operates an online marketplace that connects consumers with financial institutions and other providers. Through its platform, users can compare offers and seek products such as mortgages, personal and auto loans, credit cards, insurance, and deposit accounts. Founded in 1996 by Doug Lebda, LendingTree helped bring loan comparison shopping online. The company serves consumers in the United States and also operates comparison and financial-information websites, including CompareCards and ValuePenguin.

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