SunTrust analyst Matthew Thornton believes that exploring a sale is an alternative for Yelp (YELP), whether to a strategic buyer or to private equity. To the former, the analyst recalls Yelp was reportedly approached in May 2015 and hired advisors, though nothing materialized in terms of a transaction. To the latter, SQN principals come from mid-market tech private equity backgrounds, he notes. Comparing Yelp to Pandora (P) and Web.com (WEB), the analyst points out that these assets have large inside salesforces and are in the process of being acquired or have been acquired recently by a strategic and by private equity, respectively. Further, Thornton notes that Yelp trades at about 2.3 times 2019 EV/gross profit versus Pandora and WEB at about 4 times, which could potentially value Yelp closer to $50. He maintains a Hold rating on Yelp's shares.