Atlanticus’ (ATLC) “Market Perform” Rating Reiterated at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $52.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $45.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target points to a potential upside of 9.99% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Atlanticus from $54.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. B. Riley raised Atlanticus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $61.00.

Atlanticus Stock Down 2.8 %

ATLC stock traded down $1.37 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $47.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 62,266. The company has a market capitalization of $696.79 million, a PE ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 2.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Atlanticus has a 12 month low of $23.09 and a 12 month high of $64.70.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The credit services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.19. Atlanticus had a return on equity of 25.14% and a net margin of 8.39%. The company had revenue of $353.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $355.02 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Atlanticus will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atlanticus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Atlanticus by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 393.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Atlanticus by 158.8% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 2.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 93,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,212 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Atlanticus during the third quarter worth about $1,654,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.15% of the company’s stock.

Atlanticus Company Profile

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.