LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $60.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. LendingTree traded as high as $47.81 and last traded at $45.96, with a volume of 508195 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.35.

TREE has been the topic of several other reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on LendingTree from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up from $37.00) on shares of LendingTree in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of LendingTree from $25.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of LendingTree from $40.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LendingTree

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Shenkman Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in LendingTree by 186.2% in the 4th quarter. Shenkman Capital Management Inc. now owns 343,440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,413,000 after purchasing an additional 223,440 shares in the last quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LendingTree in the fourth quarter worth $4,930,000. Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in LendingTree during the fourth quarter valued at $2,361,000. Alta Park Capital LP bought a new stake in LendingTree during the fourth quarter valued at $2,297,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in LendingTree during the third quarter worth about $1,031,000. 68.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LendingTree Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $633.58 million, a P/E ratio of -4.61 and a beta of 2.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.80, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 3.71.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $134.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.55 million. LendingTree had a positive return on equity of 1.34% and a negative net margin of 21.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.53) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that LendingTree, Inc. will post -0.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About LendingTree

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.