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Evercore ISI Upgrades Yelp (YELP) to Hold

January 15, 2015 6:24 AM EST
Get Alerts YELP Hot Sheet
Price: $39.64 +1.38%

Rating Summary:
    18 Buy, 23 Hold, 4 Sell

Rating Trend: Down Down

Today's Overall Ratings:
    Up: 13 | Down: 11 | New: 11
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Evercore ISI upgraded Yelp (NYSE: YELP) from Sell to Hold with a price target of $60.00.

Analyst Ken Sena commented, "Our Sell rating on Yelp weighed its premium valuation against a competitively intensifying local environment and the fact that newer markets lack the necessary scale and density of its earlier cohorts. However, with shares below our $60 target by more than 10%, unique visitor growth showing improvement, seller testimonials in our new survey work supporting continued seller reliance, and ad loads offering some signs of increase, a Hold rating on shares seems more prudent"

He added, "Nevertheless, despite the rating increase and traffic improvement (UV's +19% y/y in 4Q vs. 12% in 3Q), we do still hold some concerns with the business as seller commentary remained negative for 18 of the 43 business owners surveyed, reflecting concerns around review handling and ROI, while newer efforts by competitors, such as Google, Facebook, and Groupon, seem poised for more direct competition."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Yelp click here. For more ratings news on Yelp click here.

Shares of Yelp closed at $52.20 yesterday.



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