Short Interest in EverQuote, Inc. (NASDAQ:EVER) Declines By 21.0%

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on EVER shares. Raymond James upgraded EverQuote from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on EverQuote from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on EverQuote from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on EverQuote from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $32.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jon Ayotte sold 7,647 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 58,045 shares in the company, valued at $1,492,917.40. This trade represents a 11.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO David Brainard sold 29,248 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.93, for a total value of $582,912.64. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 116,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,316,105.16. This represents a 20.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 71,453 shares of company stock worth $1,459,054. Company insiders own 29.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EverQuote

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EVER. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of EverQuote by 97.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 14,311 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of EverQuote during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of EverQuote by 636.0% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 104,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,209,000 after purchasing an additional 90,500 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of EverQuote by 255.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 240,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,072,000 after purchasing an additional 172,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in EverQuote by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,874 shares during the last quarter. 91.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EverQuote Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ EVER traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $27.83. 618,094 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 500,766. EverQuote has a 1 year low of $16.63 and a 1 year high of $28.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.42. The stock has a market cap of $994.13 million, a P/E ratio of 81.88 and a beta of 1.01.

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

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.