LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $83.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of LendingTree from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on LendingTree from $85.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of LendingTree in a report on Monday, December 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.00.

LendingTree Price Performance

Shares of TREE opened at $40.75 on Friday. LendingTree has a 12 month low of $32.65 and a 12 month high of $77.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.09. The company has a market cap of $564.80 million, a P/E ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 2.13.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The financial services provider reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($1.29). The company had revenue of $310.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $286.56 million. LendingTree had a net margin of 13.55% and a return on equity of 12.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that LendingTree will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LendingTree

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TREE. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position 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 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 546,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,260,000 after acquiring an additional 516,958 shares during the period. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in shares of LendingTree by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 1,760,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $93,461,000 after acquiring an additional 421,826 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 1,163.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 242,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Grotto Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 64.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 228,858 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

LendingTree Company Profile

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.