LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• LendingTree, Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Buy" from analysts, with nine ratings, including one hold, six buy, and two strong buy recommendations.
• Recent price target upgrades from analysts have set the twelve-month average price objective at $65.3750, with some analysts targeting up to $70.00.
• Insider transactions showed significant selling activity, with Director Diego A. Rodriguez and CFO Jason Bengel reducing their holdings by 12.89% and 49.82%, respectively, in August.

Shares of LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $65.3750.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised LendingTree from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on LendingTree from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial set a $62.00 price target on LendingTree and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised LendingTree from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.14, for a total transaction of $69,140.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 1,028 shares of the company's stock, valued at $71,075.92. This represents a 49.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Diego A. Rodriguez sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.78, for a total value of $83,736.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,113 shares in the company, valued at $566,125.14. The trade was a 12.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,669 shares of company stock valued at $598,331 in the last ninety days. 23.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LendingTree

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in LendingTree by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 90,550 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,468 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in LendingTree by 36.1% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 19,403 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 5,146 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in LendingTree by 281.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,120 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the period. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC raised its holdings in LendingTree by 69.0% in the 2nd quarter. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC now owns 305,573 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,328,000 after purchasing an additional 124,806 shares during the period. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in LendingTree by 66.9% in the 2nd quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 67,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,509,000 after purchasing an additional 27,129 shares during the period. 68.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LendingTree Stock Up 0.1%

TREE traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.82. 111,423 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 255,584. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $55.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26. LendingTree has a 12-month low of $33.50 and a 12-month high of $74.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $978.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.69 and a beta of 1.69.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.04. LendingTree had a positive return on equity of 25.79% and a negative net margin of 5.33%.The business had revenue of $250.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.03 million. LendingTree's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that LendingTree will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About LendingTree

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.