Should You Buy Lendingtree Inc (TREE)?

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Lendingtree Inc (NASDAQ:TREE) shares didn’t see a lot of action during the third quarter. Overall, hedge fund sentiment was unchanged. The stock was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. At the end of this article we will also compare TREE to other stocks including GasLog Ltd (NYSE:GLOG), Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE), and Cato Corp (NYSE:CATO) to get a better sense of its popularity.

Follow Lendingtree Inc. (NASDAQ:TREE)

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What have hedge funds been doing with Lendingtree Inc (NASDAQ:TREE)?

Heading into the fourth quarter of 2016, a total of 19 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, unchanged from one quarter earlier. On the other hand, there were a total of 29 hedge funds with a bullish position in TREE at the beginning of this year. So, let’s find out which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves.

HedgeFundSentimentChart

According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, Coatue Management, led by Philippe Laffont, holds the most valuable position in Lendingtree Inc (NASDAQ:TREE). Coatue Management has a $45.6 million position in the stock. The second most bullish fund manager is Alyeska Investment Group, led by Anand Parekh, which holds an $18.2 million position. Other professional money managers with similar optimism comprise Eric Semler’s TCS Capital Management and Ryan Frick and Oliver Evans’ Dorsal Capital Management. We should note that Dorsal Capital Management is among our list of the 100 best performing hedge funds which is based on the performance of their 13F long positions in non-microcap stocks.


We already know that not all hedge funds are bullish on the stock and some hedge funds actually cashed in their positions entirely. Interestingly, John Burbank’s Passport Capital cashed in the biggest position of the 700 funds watched by Insider Monkey, totaling an estimated $23.9 million in call options, and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $7.2 million worth of shares.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Lendingtree Inc (NASDAQ:TREE). We will take a look at GasLog Ltd (NYSE:GLOG), Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE), Cato Corp (NYSE:CATO), and Universal Electronics Inc (NASDAQ:UEIC). This group of stocks’ market caps resemble TREE’s market cap.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
GLOG 9 41618 0
BHE 17 157165 1
CATO 11 81751 -4
UEIC 9 29656 1

As you can see these stocks had an average of 12 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $78 million. That figure was $110 million in TREE’s case. Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand GasLog Ltd (NYSE:GLOG) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Lendingtree Inc (NASDAQ:TREE) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.

Disclosure: None