Alliance Data Systems (NYSE:ADS) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Alliance Data Systems (NYSE:ADS – Get Rating) in a note issued to investors on Friday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lowered Alliance Data Systems from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $67.00 in a report on Monday, March 28th. Wolfe Research lowered Alliance Data Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Alliance Data Systems from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Alliance Data Systems from $90.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, January 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Alliance Data Systems from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.09.

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $63.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 2.10. Alliance Data Systems has a 52-week low of $53.30 and a 52-week high of $128.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Alliance Data Systems (NYSE:ADS – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 27th. The business services provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $855.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $929.30 million. Alliance Data Systems had a return on equity of 43.42% and a net margin of 19.75%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alliance Data Systems will post 11.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Alliance Data Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase 200,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Alliance Data Systems by 123.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,395,532 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $342,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874,671 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its position in Alliance Data Systems by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 2,450,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $163,097,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,000 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Alliance Data Systems by 79.8% in the fourth quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,830,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $121,876,000 after purchasing an additional 812,699 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Alliance Data Systems by 668.0% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 667,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $67,341,000 after purchasing an additional 580,557 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alliance Data Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $25,328,000. 99.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alliance Data Systems (Get Rating)

Alliance Data Systems Corp. engages in the provision of data-driven and transaction-based marketing, customer loyalty and payment solutions. Its products and services include credit cards, loan financing, processing, and servicing, marketing, data and analytics, and digital offerings. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

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