Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT – Get Rating) issued its earnings results on Monday. The business services provider reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.05, MarketWatch Earnings reports. Performant Financial had a negative net margin of 8.27% and a negative return on equity of 14.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.06) EPS.

NASDAQ:PFMT opened at $1.97 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $2.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.55. The company has a market capitalization of $144.09 million, a PE ratio of -10.94 and a beta of -0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 3.12 and a quick ratio of 3.12. Performant Financial has a 1-year low of $1.82 and a 1-year high of $5.29.

In related news, major shareholder Ecmc Group, Inc. sold 194,334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.27, for a total value of $441,138.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Prescott Group Capital Managem purchased 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $2.84 per share, for a total transaction of $284,000.00. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 351,594 shares of company stock worth $784,891 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 14.20% of the company’s stock.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFMT. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Performant Financial by 195.8% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 485,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 321,123 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Performant Financial by 568.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 352,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $850,000 after purchasing an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Performant Financial by 647.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 217,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 188,239 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Performant Financial by 50.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 185,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 62,350 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Performant Financial by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 28,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.19% of the company’s stock.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Performant Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 19th. Colliers Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Performant Financial in a research report on Tuesday, March 22nd. Lake Street Capital assumed coverage on shares of Performant Financial in a research report on Monday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Performant Financial in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Performant Financial from a “d+” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.50.

About Performant Financial (Get Rating)

Performant Financial Corporation provides technology-enabled audit, recovery, outsource customer, and related analytics services in the United States. The company offers recovery services to the clients in Federal guaranteed student loan program and private institutions; identifies and tracks defaulted borrowers across its clients' portfolios of student loans; rehabilitates and recovers past due student loans; provides tax recovery services to federal, state and municipal agencies; recovers government debt for various federal agencies; and offers audit and recovery services to identify improper healthcare payments for public and private healthcare clients.

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