Raymond James Upgrades EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER) to Strong-Buy

EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER) was upgraded by Raymond James from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $35.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James’ price target points to a potential upside of 77.85% from the stock’s current price.

EVER has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on EverQuote from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. B. Riley reduced their price target on EverQuote from $36.50 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.17.

EverQuote Price Performance

NASDAQ:EVER opened at $19.68 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $18.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.78. The company has a market capitalization of $695.71 million, a PE ratio of 57.88 and a beta of 0.96. EverQuote has a 1-year low of $10.21 and a 1-year high of $28.09.

EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.09. EverQuote had a net margin of 3.31% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $144.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.40) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 162.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that EverQuote will post 0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director George R. Neble sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.42, for a total transaction of $48,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,970 shares in the company, valued at $1,067,517.40. This represents a 4.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO David Brainard sold 14,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.44, for a total transaction of $254,449.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 137,291 shares in the company, valued at $2,394,355.04. This represents a 9.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,306 shares of company stock valued at $443,260. Corporate insiders own 29.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EverQuote

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EVER. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in EverQuote by 3,022.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 385,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,133,000 after acquiring an additional 373,280 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in EverQuote by 116.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 58,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after buying an additional 31,644 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in EverQuote by 331.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 50,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 39,160 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in EverQuote by 10.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 595,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,554,000 after buying an additional 56,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of EverQuote during the 3rd quarter valued at about $757,000. 91.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EverQuote Company Profile

EverQuote, Inc operates an online marketplace for insurance shopping in the United States. The company offers auto, home and renters, and life insurance. The company serves carriers and agents, as well as indirect distributors. The company was formerly known as AdHarmonics, Inc, and changed its name to EverQuote, Inc in November 2014.