Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) Lowered to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

Separately, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded shares of Medallion Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st.

Medallion Financial Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of Medallion Financial stock opened at $10.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.20. Medallion Financial has a 52-week low of $7.39 and a 52-week high of $10.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.10.

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.16. Medallion Financial had a net margin of 12.62% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The firm had revenue of $53.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.07 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Medallion Financial will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Medallion Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Medallion Financial’s payout ratio is 27.27%.

Institutional Trading of Medallion Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Medallion Financial by 1.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 126,625 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in Medallion Financial by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 11,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 2,256 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Medallion Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 419,217 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,937,000 after buying an additional 2,261 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Medallion Financial by 25.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 2,293 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Medallion Financial by 9.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,842 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 2,461 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.56% of the company’s stock.

About Medallion Financial

Medallion Financial Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. It operates in four segments: Recreation Lending, Home Improvement Lending, Commercial Lending, and Taxi Medallion Lending. The company offers loans that finance consumer purchases of recreational vehicles, boats, and other consumer recreational equipment; consumer financing for window, siding, and roof replacement, swimming pool installations, and other home improvement projects; senior and subordinated loans for the purchase of equipment and related assets necessary to open a new business, or purchase or improvement of an existing business; and taxi medallion loans to individuals and small to mid-size businesses.