Performant Financial Co. (NASDAQ:PFMT) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Performant Financial Co. (NASDAQ:PFMT) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 918,700 shares, a decrease of 15.7% from the October 31st total of 1,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 142,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.5 days.

Performant Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PFMT opened at $3.14 on Friday. Performant Financial has a 12 month low of $2.37 and a 12 month high of $4.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $245.83 million, a PE ratio of -31.10 and a beta of 0.14.

Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.03). The company had revenue of $31.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.70 million. Performant Financial had a negative net margin of 6.74% and a negative return on equity of 10.19%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Performant Financial will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Performant Financial from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum raised Performant Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Performant Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Performant Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,105,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,134,000 after acquiring an additional 7,990 shares during the period. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Performant Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 2,065,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,724,000 after buying an additional 13,936 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Performant Financial during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Performant Financial by 32.1% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 84,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 20,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Performant Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.15% of the company’s stock.

Performant Financial Company Profile

Performant Financial Corporation provides technology-enabled audit, recovery, and analytics services in the United States. The company identifies improper payments resulting from incorrect coding, procedures that were not medically necessary, incomplete documentation or claims submitted based on outdated fee schedules, and coverage discrepancies; and provides first party call center and other outsourced services.