Porch Group (NASDAQ:PRCH) Sets New 12-Month High on Earnings Beat

Key Points

• Porch Group reached a new 52-week high of $16.00 following a positive earnings report, beating EPS estimates by $0.16.
• Wall Street analysts have a favorable outlook on Porch Group, with multiple brokerages raising their target prices to $17.00 and maintaining "buy" ratings.
• Insider selling activity shows that directors sold a significant number of shares, yet corporate insiders still hold 23.32% of the company's stock.

Porch Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRCH - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $15.05 and last traded at $16.00, with a volume of 69503 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.16.

The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.16. Porch Group had a net margin of 12.82% and a negative return on equity of 41.71%. The firm had revenue of $119.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.06 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $13.00 price target (up previously from $6.00) on shares of Porch Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Porch Group in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Porch Group from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (up previously from $12.00) on shares of Porch Group in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Porch Group from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Porch Group presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Alan R. Pickerill sold 40,000 shares of Porch Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.26, for a total transaction of $450,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 182,416 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,054,004.16. The trade was a 17.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Shawn Tabak sold 30,000 shares of Porch Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.23, for a total transaction of $336,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 172,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,939,095.33. The trade was a 14.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 490,000 shares of company stock worth $5,222,000 in the last 90 days. 23.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Porch Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRCH. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Porch Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Porch Group by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,511,591 shares of the company's stock worth $27,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100,224 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Porch Group by 225.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 730,340 shares of the company's stock worth $3,593,000 after purchasing an additional 505,660 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Porch Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $176,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Porch Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,012,705 shares of the company's stock worth $9,905,000 after purchasing an additional 24,824 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 48.48% of the company's stock.

Porch Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84 and a beta of 2.72. The stock's 50-day moving average is $12.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.45.

Porch Group Company Profile

Porch Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a vertical software and insurance platform in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Vertical Software and Insurance. The Vertical Software segment provides software and services to inspection, mortgage, and title companies on a subscription and transactional basis, as well as move and post-move services.