Groupon Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:GRPN)

Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRPN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 14,702 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 82% compared to the average volume of 8,065 call options.

Groupon Trading Down 7.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:GRPN traded down $1.89 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $23.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,072,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,627,132. Groupon has a one year low of $9.17 and a one year high of $35.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.11. The firm has a market cap of $878.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.43 and a beta of 0.23.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The coupon company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $124.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $127.09 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Groupon will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on GRPN shares. Northland Securities set a $26.00 price target on Groupon in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Groupon in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Groupon from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Groupon in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Groupon in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Groupon currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Groupon by 464.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 619,413 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $7,371,000 after acquiring an additional 509,600 shares in the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. increased its stake in Groupon by 432.6% in the first quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 81,366 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 66,088 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Groupon during the first quarter valued at about $2,416,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Groupon by 125.2% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 41,501 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $731,000 after purchasing an additional 23,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd lifted its stake in Groupon by 24.1% during the first quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 102,118 shares of the coupon company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 19,860 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Groupon Company Profile

Groupon, Inc operates an online marketplace that connects subscribers with local merchants offering discounted goods, services and experiences. Through its website and mobile applications, Groupon provides time-limited deals across categories such as restaurants, travel, beauty and wellness, home services, and consumer products. Merchants partner with Groupon to attract new customers and drive foot traffic, leveraging the platform’s targeted marketing tools and large subscriber base to promote special offers and vouchers.

Founded in Chicago in 2008 by Andrew Mason, Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell, Groupon pioneered the daily-deals model, quickly growing its user community and merchant network.