EverQuote, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVER) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

EverQuote, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVER) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,430,000 shares, a drop of 21.0% from the February 13th total of 1,810,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 520,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 5.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on EVER. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on EverQuote from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on EverQuote from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on EverQuote from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded EverQuote from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EverQuote currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jon Ayotte sold 7,647 shares of EverQuote stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.72, for a total transaction of $196,680.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 58,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,492,917.40. The trade was a 11.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Shields sold 2,000 shares of EverQuote stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 28,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,300. This trade represents a 6.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,863 shares of company stock valued at $1,204,605 over the last three months. Company insiders own 29.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of EverQuote

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EVER. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of EverQuote in the fourth quarter valued at about $12,311,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of EverQuote in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,618,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in EverQuote by 2,301.4% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 461,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,216,000 after acquiring an additional 441,815 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in EverQuote by 3,022.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 385,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,133,000 after acquiring an additional 373,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronado Partners LLC raised its holdings in EverQuote by 59.7% during the fourth quarter. Toronado Partners LLC now owns 718,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,368,000 after acquiring an additional 268,670 shares in the last quarter. 91.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EverQuote Trading Down 5.7 %

Shares of EverQuote stock traded down $1.59 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,074,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 506,816. The company has a market capitalization of $945.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.82 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.46. EverQuote has a 52 week low of $16.63 and a 52 week high of $28.89.

EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $147.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $133.83 million. EverQuote had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 3.31%. On average, equities analysts forecast that EverQuote will post 0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About EverQuote

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.