MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) Given Consensus Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) has a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from six analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $17.91.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $0.17, exceeding analyst expectations, with a 41.1% increase in revenue compared to the prior year.
• Insider activity included Director Kathy P. Vrabeck purchasing 31,000 shares at $9.60 each, representing a 31.42% increase in her ownership, while CRO Keith Cramer sold 20,000 shares.

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.9167.

MAX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of MediaAlpha from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MediaAlpha from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th.

Insider Transactions at MediaAlpha

In related news, CRO Keith Cramer sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.73, for a total transaction of $194,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 167,200 shares in the company, valued at $1,626,856. This trade represents a 10.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kathy P. Vrabeck bought 31,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.60 per share, with a total value of $297,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 129,657 shares in the company, valued at $1,244,707.20. This represents a 31.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,669 shares of company stock valued at $297,873 in the last quarter. 11.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MediaAlpha

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Broad Bay Capital Management LP grew its holdings in MediaAlpha by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Broad Bay Capital Management LP now owns 2,747,778 shares of the company's stock worth $25,389,000 after acquiring an additional 529,093 shares during the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP grew its holdings in MediaAlpha by 123.4% during the 1st quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 2,654,921 shares of the company's stock worth $24,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466,760 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in MediaAlpha by 91.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 781,349 shares of the company's stock worth $8,821,000 after acquiring an additional 372,305 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MediaAlpha by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 764,702 shares of the company's stock worth $8,375,000 after acquiring an additional 36,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shay Capital LLC grew its holdings in MediaAlpha by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. Shay Capital LLC now owns 670,000 shares of the company's stock worth $7,336,000 after acquiring an additional 98,159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.39% of the company's stock.

MediaAlpha Stock Up 1.1%

MediaAlpha stock traded up $0.12 on Friday, hitting $10.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 726,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 530,647. The firm has a market cap of $738.98 million, a P/E ratio of -90.63 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.91. MediaAlpha has a one year low of $7.33 and a one year high of $20.91.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $251.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.80 million. MediaAlpha had a negative net margin of 0.61% and a negative return on equity of 62.53%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.07 EPS. Analysts anticipate that MediaAlpha will post 0.48 EPS for the current year.

About MediaAlpha

MediaAlpha, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates an insurance customer acquisition platform in the United States. It optimizes customer acquisition in various verticals of property and casualty insurance, health insurance, and life insurance. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.