Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on ATLC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on Atlanticus in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a market perform rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market outperform rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $40.50.

Atlanticus Stock Up 2.0 %

ATLC opened at $25.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $376.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 1.87. Atlanticus has a 1-year low of $23.09 and a 1-year high of $43.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.32 and a 200-day moving average of $31.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $309.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $304.68 million. Atlanticus had a return on equity of 26.67% and a net margin of 8.67%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atlanticus will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Frank J. Hanna III acquired 263,432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.21 per share, for a total transaction of $7,431,416.72. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 263,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,431,416.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Deal W. Hudson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.50, for a total value of $61,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 69,855 shares in the company, valued at $2,130,577.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Frank J. Hanna III bought 263,432 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.21 per share, with a total value of $7,431,416.72. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 263,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,431,416.72. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 51.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Atlanticus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ATLC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 2.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 50,325 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,525,000 after buying an additional 1,304 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 23.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,263 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Atlanticus by 62.4% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 6,254 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Atlanticus by 16.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 12,700 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Atlanticus in the third quarter worth about $30,000. 14.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Atlanticus

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation, a financial technology company, provides credit and related financial services and products to customers the United States. It operates in two segments, Credit as a Service, and Auto Finance. The Credit as a Service segment originates a range of consumer loan products, such as private label and general purpose credit cards originated by lenders through various channels, including retail and healthcare, direct mail solicitation, digital marketing, and partnerships with third parties; and offers credit to their customers for the purchase of various goods and services, including consumer electronics, furniture, elective medical procedures, healthcare, and home-improvements by partnering with retailers, healthcare providers, and other service providers.