Zillow jumps as Piper Sandler upgrades, hikes PT by nearly 50%

Redfin

11/07/2023 16:28

(Updates prices after market open, adds Redfin prices)
** Zillow Group's  ZG.O  shares up 10.0% at $51.27 after
touching highest level since Apr 2022, following Piper Sandler
upgrade of the real estate portal to "overweight" from "neutral"
    ** Shares in rival Refin  RDFN.O  also up 15.3% at $14.46
and on track for biggest one-day pct gain since May 5
    ** Piper boosted ZG PT from $42 to $62, implying 33% upside
to stock's Mon close
    ** Piper said it likes setup for ZG driven by continued
Premier Agent share gains, product optionality and new
initiatives, and bottoming in housing macro with sequential
improvements forecast through 2024
    ** While mortgage rates remain higher than a year ago,
they've stabilized at current levels, which should spur demand,
analysts say in note
    ** Freddie Mac last week said U.S. mortgage rates rose to
avg of 6.81% to 2023 peak, adding that high rates combined with
low inventory continue to price many potential homebuyers out of
the market
    ** Now, 12 of 25 analysts covering ZG rate stock "buy" or
"strong buy", 12 rate "hold" and 1 has "sell", per Refinitiv
data; median PT is $54
    ** ZG's stock on Tues on track for biggest one-day  pct gain
since May 4. With move on the session, shares up ~64% YTD
        ** RDFN now up ~245% YTD with move on Tues
  

 (Reporting by Lance Tupper and Sinéad Carew
Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
 ((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))