MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

MediaAlpha, Inc. (NYSE:MAX) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.3571.

MAX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Texas Capital raised shares of MediaAlpha to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MediaAlpha from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MediaAlpha from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MediaAlpha from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price 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.

MediaAlpha Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of NYSE:MAX opened at $10.79 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $672.44 million, a PE ratio of 16.85 and a beta of 1.16. MediaAlpha has a twelve month low of $7.09 and a twelve month high of $13.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.05.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Eugene Nonko sold 49,844 shares of MediaAlpha stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,344,153.96. The trade was a 3.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 MediaAlpha stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 2,924,994 shares in the company, valued at $29,220,690.06. The trade was a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 a total of 522,380 shares of company stock worth $5,141,960 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 14.65% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MediaAlpha

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in MediaAlpha by 5,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 2,124 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in MediaAlpha by 9,917.9% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 2,777 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake in MediaAlpha by 43.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in MediaAlpha in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in MediaAlpha by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 1,213 shares during the period. 64.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.