Grindr (NYSE:GRND) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Grindr Inc. (NYSE:GRND) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $14.37, but opened at $15.28. Grindr shares last traded at $15.9560, with a volume of 1,138,231 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GRND has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Grindr in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley raised Grindr from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Grindr from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Grindr to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Grindr in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Grindr presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.20.

Grindr Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.52 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 442.30, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Grindr (NYSE:GRND) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $129.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.42 million. Grindr had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 123.31%. As a group, analysts expect that Grindr Inc. will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Grindr news, insider Zachary Katz sold 12,799 shares of Grindr stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.65, for a total transaction of $187,505.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 726,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,637,701.95. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 60.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grindr

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Grindr by 1,473.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Grindr during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Grindr during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Grindr by 713.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Grindr in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.22% of the company’s stock.

About Grindr

Grindr, trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol GRND, operates a global social networking and dating platform designed primarily for gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (GBTQ) individuals. The company’s core offering is a location-based mobile application that enables users to connect, chat and share content with others in their vicinity. Through its free tier and premium subscription services—known as Grindr XTRA and Grindr Unlimited—Grindr provides enhanced features such as ad-free browsing, advanced filters and unlimited profile views, catering to a broad spectrum of user needs.

Originally launched in 2009 by entrepreneur Joel Simkhai, Grindr was one of the first mobile apps to leverage geolocation technology for social networking.