Yext (NYSE:YEXT) Receives Consensus Rating of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Yext has a consensus “Reduce” rating from six brokerages: one recommends selling and five recommend holding. The average 12-month price target is $6.33, below the reported opening price of $6.39.
• Yext’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations on earnings, reporting $0.21 EPS versus the $0.17 consensus, while revenue of $111.1 million slightly missed estimates and declined 1.8% year over year.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial at 70.98%, with major investors including Lead Edge Capital and BlackRock taking new positions. Two directors also recently purchased shares, increasing their holdings.

Yext (NYSE:YEXT - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.3333.

YEXT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on shares of Yext from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Yext from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research cut Yext from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Yext in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, B Riley reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Yext in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd.

Yext Price Performance

Yext stock opened at $6.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $632.09 million, a PE ratio of 37.56 and a beta of 1.15. Yext has a 52 week low of $3.27 and a 52 week high of $9.03. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $5.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.14.

Yext (NYSE:YEXT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 1st. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $111.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.30 million. Yext had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Yext will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Seth Waugh acquired 133,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $3.75 per share, for a total transaction of $498,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 319,411 shares in the company, valued at $1,197,791.25. This trade represents a 71.35% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel Englander bought 76,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.22 per share, with a total value of $397,711.80. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 141,190 shares in the company, valued at $737,011.80. The trade was a 117.22% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 7.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yext

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lead Edge Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Yext during the second quarter worth approximately $36,628,192. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Yext in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,536,000. Lynrock Lake LP lifted its stake in shares of Yext by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Lynrock Lake LP now owns 15,132,384 shares of the company's stock worth $121,967,000 after purchasing an additional 2,861,653 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Yext by 126.2% during the 4th quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 2,952,453 shares of the company's stock worth $23,797,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647,174 shares during the period. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Yext during the first quarter worth $3,915,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Yext Company Profile

Yext, Inc is a software-as-a-service company that provides a platform for digital knowledge management. Its core offering enables businesses to centrally manage and synchronize public-facing information—such as location details, product descriptions and service offerings—across a network of search engines, mapping services, voice assistants and third-party directories.

The Yext platform is built around a proprietary Knowledge Graph, which stores and structures data to ensure consistency and accuracy.

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