LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) Receives $74.29 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $74.2857.

TREE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $85.00 price objective on shares of LendingTree and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research lowered LendingTree from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. 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 objective on LendingTree from $66.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of LendingTree in a report on Monday, December 29th.

Institutional Trading of LendingTree

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 272.6% in 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 in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in LendingTree during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in LendingTree by 281.0% in 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. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in LendingTree by 25.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of LendingTree during the third quarter worth about $95,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

LendingTree Stock Performance

Shares of LendingTree stock opened at $68.01 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.93, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. LendingTree has a one year low of $33.50 and a one year high of $77.35. The company has a market cap of $929.70 million, a PE ratio of 67.34 and a beta of 2.08.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $278.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that LendingTree will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.