Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

Separately, JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Atlanticus in a report on Wednesday, April 17th.

Atlanticus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ATLC opened at $27.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $400.04 million, a P/E ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $28.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.65. Atlanticus has a fifty-two week low of $23.20 and a fifty-two week high of $43.70.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.14. Atlanticus had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 27.93%. The company had revenue of $309.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $304.68 million. Analysts expect that Atlanticus will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atlanticus news, major shareholder Frank J. Hanna III bought 263,432 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 263,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,431,416.72. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Atlanticus news, major shareholder Frank J. Hanna III bought 263,432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.21 per share, for a total transaction of $7,431,416.72. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 263,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,431,416.72. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Deal W. Hudson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.50, for a total transaction of $61,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 69,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,130,577.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 52.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ATLC. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Atlanticus in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Atlanticus by 23.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,263 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Atlanticus by 65.5% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Atlanticus by 62.4% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 6,254 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 2,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atlanticus during the 3rd quarter worth about $282,000. 14.15% of the stock is 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.