Grindr (NYSE:GRND) Stock Price Up 7.7% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Grindr's stock price increased by 7.7% to $13.71, despite a 32% decline in trading volume compared to its average.
• Recent analyst ratings for Grindr include a drop in price targets by JMP Securities and Raymond James, while Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock to a buy rating.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a 26.6% revenue increase year-over-year, but a slight EPS miss at $0.08 compared to expectations of $0.10.

Grindr Inc. (NYSE:GRND - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 7.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $13.82 and last traded at $13.71. Approximately 1,306,613 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 1,929,934 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GRND. JMP Securities lowered their price objective on Grindr from $27.00 to $23.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Grindr in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Grindr from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on Grindr from $26.00 to $20.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on Grindr in a research report on Monday, June 30th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Grindr has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.60.

Grindr Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.19. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.00 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

Grindr (NYSE:GRND - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $104.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $104.40 million. Grindr had a positive return on equity of 84.93% and a negative net margin of 14.41%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.13) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Grindr Inc. will post 0.29 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James Fu Bin Lu sold 350,000 shares of Grindr stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.95, for a total transaction of $4,532,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,938,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $322,958,327.65. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Zachary Katz sold 7,645 shares of Grindr stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.83, for a total value of $98,085.35. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 548,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,035,189.37. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,726,547 shares of company stock valued at $22,546,751 in the last three months. 67.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Grindr

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Grindr by 2.8% in the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 17,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Grindr by 28.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,476 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Grindr by 45.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Grindr by 2.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 28,878 shares of the company's stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Grindr by 41.7% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 3,407 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002 shares during the last quarter. 7.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Grindr

Grindr Inc operates social network and dating application for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities worldwide. Its platform enables LGBTQ people to find and engage with each other, share content and experiences, and express themselves. The company offers ad-supported service and a premium subscription version.

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