Range Financial Group LLC Takes Position in LendingTree, Inc. $TREE

Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 21,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,408,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TREE. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in LendingTree by 272.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of LendingTree by 25.2% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of LendingTree by 281.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 11.4% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of LendingTree in the second quarter worth about $122,000. 68.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TREE. Wall Street Zen downgraded LendingTree from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on LendingTree from $66.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Oppenheimer set a $85.00 price objective on LendingTree and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on LendingTree from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of LendingTree from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LendingTree currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $74.29.

LendingTree Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TREE opened at $54.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.93, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The company has a market capitalization of $739.14 million, a PE ratio of 53.54 and a beta of 2.08. LendingTree, Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.50 and a 1-year high of $77.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $55.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.05.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.47. LendingTree had a net margin of 1.34% and a return on equity of 36.30%. The firm had revenue of $290.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that LendingTree, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LendingTree 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.