Short Interest in LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) Expands By 28.8%

LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 401,200 shares, an increase of 28.8% from the July 31st total of 311,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 176,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 3.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

LendingTree Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:TREE opened at $57.93 on Friday. LendingTree has a 52 week low of $10.12 and a 52 week high of $62.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.58 and a 200-day moving average of $43.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $766.12 million, a PE ratio of -5.58 and a beta of 2.11.

LendingTree (NASDAQ:TREE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $210.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.41 million. LendingTree had a negative net margin of 19.02% and a negative return on equity of 2.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Analysts predict that LendingTree will post -0.52 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC boosted its stake in LendingTree by 230.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of LendingTree by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LendingTree during the fourth quarter worth $103,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of LendingTree in the 2nd quarter valued at $139,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in LendingTree in the 2nd quarter worth about $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TREE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on LendingTree from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of LendingTree from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of LendingTree from $56.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of LendingTree from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Northland Securities increased their price target on shares of LendingTree from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.13.

About LendingTree

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.