EVER Rallies 27% YTD, Trades at Premium: Should You Buy the Stock?

Shares of EverQuote, Inc. EVER have gained 26.9% year to date, outperforming its industry, the Finance sector and the Zacks S&P 500 Composite of 3.8%, 8.7% and 5.9%, respectively.

The insurer has a market capitalization of $934.25 million. The average volume of shares traded in the last three months was 0.5 million.

EVER vs Industry, Sector & S&P 500 YTD

EVER Trading Above 50-Day and 200-Day Moving Averages

Shares of EverQuote closed at $25.36 on Thursday and are trading above the 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages (SMA) of $24.29 and $21.86, indicating solid upward momentum. SMA is a widely used technical analysis tool to predict future price trends by analyzing historical price data.

EVER Shares are Expensive 

EVER shares are trading at a premium to the industry. Its price-to-book value of 6.06X is higher than the industry average of 1.48X.However, shares of other multi-line insurers, such as MGIC Investment Corporation MTG, Kemper Corporation KMPR and CNO Financial Group, Inc. CNO, are trading at a discount to the industry average.

Average Target Price for EVER Suggests Upside

Based on short-term price targets offered by six analysts, the Zacks average price target is $34.17 per share. The average indicates a potential 37.28% upside from the last closing price.

EVER’s Growth Projection Encourages 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EverQuote’s 2025 earnings per share indicates a year-over-year increase of 34.1%, while the same for revenues is pegged at $644.08 million, implying a year-over-year improvement of 28.7%. The consensus estimate for 2026 earnings per share and revenues indicates an increase of 10.8% and 19.4%, respectively, from the 2025 estimates. EVER has an impressive Growth Score of A. This style score helps analyse the growth prospects of a company.  

Impressive Earnings Surprise History of EVER 

EverQuote’s bottom line surpassed earnings estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average being 122.6%.

EVER’s Favorable Return on Capital 

Return on equity (ROE) for the trailing 12 months was 35.4%, comparing favorably with the industry’s 14.9%. This reflects its efficiency in utilizing shareholders’ funds. 

Return on invested capital in the trailing 12 months was 34.7%, better than the industry average of 2%, reflecting EVER’s efficiency in utilizing funds to generate income. 

Factors Favoring EverQuote

Despite a prolonged downturn in the auto insurance market, EverQuote remains well-positioned to benefit from a potential recovery in carrier demand. The company continues to focus on rapid expansion into new verticals, while increasing consumer traffic, higher quote request volumes, and ongoing innovation in advertiser products and services are expected to drive sustained revenue growth.

EverQuote continues to demonstrate a strong track record of inorganic growth, with strategic acquisitions like PolicyFuel enhancing its platform capabilities, which expanded EverQuote’s access to the large and growing total addressable market of insurance distribution shifting online. Policy-Sales-as-a-Service capabilities in the property and casualty market also expanded EverQuote’s existing Direct-to-Consumer Agency operations.

EverQuote expects to deliver improved Variable Marketing Dollars (VMD), driven by lower advertising costs and higher revenue per quote request in the auto insurance vertical. Strong revenue growth is anticipated from the health direct-to-consumer agency during the annual open enrollment period, which is likely to further enhance the company’s overall VMD operating performance.

Conclusion

With improving marketing efficiency and anticipated growth in auto insurance revenue, EverQuote aims to leverage the ongoing digital shift in insurance distribution while focusing on performance across key financial metrics. A VGM Score of B instils confidence.

Despite its premium valuation, it is better to add this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock for better returns. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research