LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday.

TREE has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LendingTree in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LendingTree in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of LendingTree from $70.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of LendingTree in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial set a $78.00 target price on shares of LendingTree in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.20.

LendingTree Stock Performance

LendingTree stock opened at $44.13 on Monday. LendingTree has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $77.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock has a market cap of $615.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 2.00.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.11). LendingTree had a return on equity of 17.01% and a net margin of 15.02%.The firm had revenue of $319.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 36.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that LendingTree will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LendingTree

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in LendingTree during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,120,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LendingTree by 1,747.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 546,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,260,000 after buying an additional 516,958 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 1,760,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $93,461,000 after buying an additional 421,826 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 1,163.1% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 263,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,078,000 after buying an additional 242,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Grotto Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 64.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC now owns 584,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,054,000 after buying an additional 228,858 shares during the last quarter. 68.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About LendingTree

LendingTree, Inc operates an online marketplace that connects consumers with a network of lenders and financial service providers. Through its platform, borrowers can compare loan offers for mortgages, home equity loans, personal loans, student loans, auto loans and small business financing. The company also offers tools for comparing credit cards and deposit accounts, allowing users to research rates and terms from a range of providers in one place.

Founded in 1996 by Doug Lebda, LendingTree pioneered the comparison-shopping model for consumer credit products.