5 Undervalued Stocks Hedge Funds Are Talking About

3. LendingTree (TREE)

Bernzott Capital Advisors US Small Cap Value, in its Q4 2021 investor letter, mentioned LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ: TREE) and discussed its stance on the firm. LendingTree, Inc. is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based online lending company with a $1.6 billion market capitalization. TREE delivered a 2.12% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -63.46%. The stock closed at $125.20 per share on February 4, 2022.

Here is what Bernzott Capital Advisors US Small Cap Value has to say about LendingTree, Inc. in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“LendingTree (TREE): The company faced headwinds across its business, including reduced demand for personal loans due to federal government stimulus payments, a pause in insurance lead demand as insurers prepared for price increases, and mixed demand for mortgage leads as lenders were running near capacity and not chasing new business. Meanwhile, expenses were pressured by continued investment in growth initiatives in health and insurance. As a result, the price has been weak and valuation has compressed below five-year averages. Several business drivers appear to be bottoming and look poised for growth which should help drive a recovery in the stock price.”

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Our calculations show that LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ: TREE) failed to obtain a mark on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. TREE was in 24 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2021, compared to 30 funds in the previous quarter. LendingTree, Inc. (NASDAQ: TREE) delivered a -16.48% return in the past 3 months. In November 2021, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on TREE in another article.