Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded Medallion Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Medallion Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.00.

Medallion Financial Stock Performance

Medallion Financial stock opened at $9.59 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $9.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.65 million, a PE ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.21. Medallion Financial has a one year low of $7.85 and a one year high of $11.00.

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The credit services provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $55.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.20 million. Medallion Financial had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 12.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Medallion Financial will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medallion Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. Medallion Financial’s payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medallion Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MFIN. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Medallion Financial by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 340,123 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 87,321 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC purchased a new stake in Medallion Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $739,000. Teton Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medallion Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $606,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Medallion Financial by 83.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 129,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 59,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Medallion Financial by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 180,079 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,851,000 after acquiring an additional 51,822 shares during the last quarter. 40.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Medallion Financial Company Profile

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.