LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $55.74, but opened at $58.90. LendingTree shares last traded at $62.4620, with a volume of 124,953 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer set a $85.00 price objective on shares of LendingTree and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of LendingTree in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut LendingTree from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on LendingTree from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded LendingTree from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LendingTree currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.29.

LendingTree Trading Up 13.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $862.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.01 and a beta of 2.08. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $54.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.82.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in LendingTree during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $882,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in LendingTree in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,337,000. Blue Grotto Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of LendingTree by 27.3% during the second quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC now owns 382,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,183,000 after purchasing an additional 82,131 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of LendingTree by 7.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 267,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,909,000 after purchasing an additional 18,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of LendingTree during the second quarter worth $3,254,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

About LendingTree

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.