Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered Medallion Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.00.

Medallion Financial Price Performance

MFIN opened at $9.45 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.78. Medallion Financial has a 12-month low of $7.85 and a 12-month high of $11.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $225.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.77.

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $79.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.15 million. Medallion Financial had a net margin of 10.35% and a return on equity of 7.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Medallion Financial will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medallion Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Medallion Financial by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 56,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 5,510 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Medallion Financial by 124.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 490,972 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,203,000 after acquiring an additional 271,789 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Medallion Financial by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 24,043 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR acquired a new stake in shares of Medallion Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $96,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Medallion Financial by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 96,761 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $828,000 after acquiring an additional 4,066 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.56% of the company’s stock.

About Medallion Financial

Medallion Financial Corporation is a specialty finance company that provides asset-based lending solutions to small and mid-sized businesses in the United States. The company’s core business activities include secured loans collateralized by business assets such as insurance premiums, commercial real estate, maritime assets and portfolio receivables. Through its insurance premium finance division, Medallion offers short-term loans that allow policyholders to spread insurance costs over multiple payments, while its portfolio financing arm provides funding against a borrower’s existing asset portfolios.

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Medallion Financial originally established itself in the taxi medallion lending market, extending loans secured by New York City cab medallions.