LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on TREE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on LendingTree from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna upped their price target on LendingTree from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on LendingTree from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on LendingTree from $56.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $58.13.

LendingTree Stock Performance

TREE stock traded down $0.30 during trading on Monday, reaching $46.22. The stock had a trading volume of 208,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 245,819. The firm has a market cap of $616.57 million, a PE ratio of -4.48 and a beta of 2.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 3.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $45.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.11. LendingTree has a 52 week low of $10.12 and a 52 week high of $59.00.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $210.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.41 million. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 19.02% and a negative return on equity of 2.98%. LendingTree’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that LendingTree will post -0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Steven Ozonian sold 1,610 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.31, for a total value of $71,339.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,599.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 23.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LendingTree

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Emerald Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 345,892 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,386,000 after purchasing an additional 2,247 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust lifted its position in shares of LendingTree by 9.3% in the second quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 280,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,676,000 after buying an additional 23,995 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in LendingTree during the second quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in LendingTree by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 40,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after buying an additional 2,830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in LendingTree in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,380,000. 68.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LendingTree Company Profile

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.