MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) Raised to Strong-Buy at Texas Capital

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) was upgraded by research analysts at Texas Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on MAX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MediaAlpha from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MediaAlpha from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $18.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of MediaAlpha from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.58.

MediaAlpha Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of MAX opened at $9.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $599.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 1.16. MediaAlpha has a 1-year low of $7.09 and a 1-year high of $13.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.23.

MediaAlpha (NYSE:MAX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.04). MediaAlpha had a net margin of 3.37% and a negative return on equity of 147.82%. The company had revenue of $310.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $298.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.04) earnings per share. MediaAlpha’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that MediaAlpha will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Eugene Nonko sold 49,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.04, for a total value of $500,433.76. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,329,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,344,153.96. This represents a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Steven Yi sold 33,663 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total transaction of $336,293.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,924,994 shares in the company, valued at $29,220,690.06. This trade represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 459,940 shares of company stock worth $4,512,545 over the last 90 days. 14.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MediaAlpha

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Investment Management bought a new stake in MediaAlpha during the fourth quarter worth about $3,567,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in MediaAlpha by 95.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,058,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,045,000 after purchasing an additional 516,195 shares during the period. Globeflex Capital L P bought a new stake in MediaAlpha during the fourth quarter worth about $1,039,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in MediaAlpha during the fourth quarter worth about $380,000. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in MediaAlpha during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors own 64.39% of the company’s stock.

MediaAlpha Company Profile

MediaAlpha, Inc is a technology company that operates a real-time digital marketplace for the distribution of insurance and adjacent services. The company’s platform connects buyers—consumers seeking insurance policies—to sellers, including insurance carriers and distribution partners, through programmatic bidding and data-driven pricing. By leveraging transaction-level data and proprietary auction mechanics, MediaAlpha enables carriers to acquire customers more efficiently and at scale.

The firm offers a suite of products that help clients optimize marketing spend and improve conversion rates.