LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) Short Interest Update

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 727,000 shares, an increase of 61.4% from the April 30th total of 450,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 377,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 6.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on TREE. Truist Financial cut their price target on LendingTree from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of LendingTree from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of LendingTree in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on LendingTree from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LendingTree currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.13.

Insider Activity at LendingTree

In related news, COO Scott Peyree acquired 21,045 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $41.69 per share, with a total value of $877,366.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 76,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,200,124.40. The trade was a 37.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Heather Enlow-Novitsky sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total value of $45,300.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 2,028 shares in the company, valued at $73,494.72. This represents a 38.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 23.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LendingTree

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TREE. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of LendingTree by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 36,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 1,728 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in LendingTree by 101.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in LendingTree by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 24,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 2,923 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in LendingTree by 75.0% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 4,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 2,017 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in LendingTree in the 4th quarter valued at about $248,000. 68.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LendingTree Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ TREE traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $35.16. The company had a trading volume of 383,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,575. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.07. The stock has a market cap of $475.89 million, a P/E ratio of -13.02 and a beta of 1.76. LendingTree has a 52-week low of $34.01 and a 52-week high of $62.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $239.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.93 million. LendingTree had a positive return on equity of 0.51% and a negative net margin of 4.72%. The business’s revenue was up 42.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that LendingTree will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

LendingTree Company Profile

LendingTree, Inc, through its subsidiary, operates online consumer platform in the United States. It operates through three segments: Home, Consumer, and Insurance. The Home segment offers purchase mortgage, refinance mortgage, and home equity loans and lines of credit; and real estate brokerage services.