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 report released on Friday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective (up from $45.00) on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.00.

Atlanticus Stock Down 1.6%

ATLC stock opened at $54.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Atlanticus has a 1-year low of $23.10 and a 1-year high of $64.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $829.25 million, a P/E ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 1.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $51.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.45.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The credit services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.16. Atlanticus had a return on equity of 25.14% and a net margin of 8.39%. The company had revenue of $344.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $347.24 million. Equities analysts forecast that Atlanticus will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atlanticus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 229.4% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 728 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Atlanticus in the first quarter valued at about $56,000. US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in shares of Atlanticus in the first quarter worth about $74,000. Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new position in shares of Atlanticus in the fourth quarter worth about $119,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atlanticus in the fourth quarter worth about $129,000. 14.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.