Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Criteo, with six buys, three holds and three sells. The average 12-month price target is $22.65, above the stock’s recent $14.50 opening price.
• Criteo’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.80 versus the $0.71 consensus estimate and revenue of $428.02 million. However, revenue declined 11.3% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 94.27% of Criteo’s shares, while insiders sold 30,725 shares worth approximately $529,527 during the last quarter, primarily to cover tax obligations tied to equity awards.

Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ:CRTO - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.65.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Criteo from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Criteo from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Criteo in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Huber Research cut Criteo from an "overweight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $20.00 target price on Criteo in a report on Thursday, August 6th.

Criteo Price Performance

Shares of CRTO opened at $14.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $710.50 million, a P/E ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.29. Criteo has a 1 year low of $14.28 and a 1 year high of $25.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.30.

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The information services provider reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.09. Criteo had a net margin of 5.60% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The firm had revenue of $428.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Criteo will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ryan Damon sold 6,178 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.23, for a total transaction of $106,446.94. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 167,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,890,590.95. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Michael Komasinski sold 1,656 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.28, for a total value of $28,615.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 343,891 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,942,436.48. This represents a 0.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 30,725 shares of company stock valued at $529,527 in the last quarter. 1.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Criteo

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CRTO. WealthCollab LLC grew its position in shares of Criteo by 147.5% during the 1st quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Criteo by 185.8% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,446 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 940 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Criteo by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 13,945 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 1,311 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Criteo by 61.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,465 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Criteo during the 2nd quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 94.27% of the company's stock.

Criteo Company Profile

Criteo SA is a global commerce media company headquartered in Paris, France. The company provides technology that helps advertisers, retailers and publishers connect with consumers and measure the impact of digital marketing campaigns across the commerce journey.

Criteo's platform supports retail media and performance marketing activities, including sponsored product placements, display and video advertising, audience activation, customer acquisition and campaign measurement. Its solutions are designed to use commerce data and artificial intelligence to help brands reach relevant audiences, while enabling retailers and publishers to generate advertising revenue.

Founded in 2005 by Jean-Baptiste Rudelle, Franck Le Ouay and Romain Niccoli, Criteo serves clients across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

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