EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

EverQuote, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVER)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $17.57, but opened at $19.03. EverQuote shares last traded at $20.63, with a volume of 355,506 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EVER shares. Raymond James raised EverQuote from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, December 26th. B. Riley lowered their price objective on EverQuote from $36.50 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of EverQuote from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $31.67.

EverQuote Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $719.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.85 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $18.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.55.

EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.09. EverQuote had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 3.31%. The business had revenue of $144.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.40) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 162.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that EverQuote, Inc. will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Shields sold 2,000 shares of EverQuote stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $40,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $570,300. The trade was a 6.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO David Brainard sold 3,675 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.52, for a total transaction of $71,736.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 108,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,112,922.88. This represents a 3.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,668 shares of company stock valued at $1,045,134 over the last 90 days. 29.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of EverQuote

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in EverQuote by 41.2% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of EverQuote by 215.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of EverQuote during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of EverQuote by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 1,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in EverQuote in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.54% of the company’s stock.

EverQuote Company Profile

EverQuote, Inc operates an online marketplace for insurance shopping in the United States. The company offers auto, home and renters, and life insurance. The company serves carriers and agents, as well as indirect distributors. The company was formerly known as AdHarmonics, Inc, and changed its name to EverQuote, Inc in November 2014.