MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) Short Interest Up 21.5% in May

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, a growth of 21.5% from the April 30th total of 2,140,000 shares. Currently, 8.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 631,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $14.00 to $12.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.21.

MediaAlpha Trading Down 0.0%

MAX stock traded down $0.00 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $10.42. 222,624 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 620,048. MediaAlpha has a one year low of $7.33 and a one year high of $20.91. The company has a market cap of $698.18 million, a P/E ratio of 61.27 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.41.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $264.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $236.07 million. MediaAlpha had a net margin of 1.41% and a negative return on equity of 11.98%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 108.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that MediaAlpha will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MediaAlpha

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 43,431 shares of the company's stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MediaAlpha by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,623,344 shares of the company's stock worth $40,908,000 after purchasing an additional 169,654 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MediaAlpha during the 4th quarter worth about $172,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 372,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL purchased a new stake in shares of MediaAlpha during the 4th quarter worth about $599,000. 64.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MediaAlpha Company Profile

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.