Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC) Receives $63.20 Average Price Target from Analysts

Key Points

• Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from five research firms, with one strong buy and three buy recommendations.
• The company reported $1.51 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.30, and had a revenue of $393.82 million.
• Atlanticus plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.4766 on September 15th, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.9%.

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.20.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $60.00 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of Atlanticus in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Atlanticus from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Atlanticus from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th.

Atlanticus Stock Up 0.9%

Atlanticus stock traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $66.83. 26,881 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 46,323. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Atlanticus has a 12 month low of $30.00 and a 12 month high of $67.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $55.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.36. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 1.93.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.21. Atlanticus had a net margin of 8.51% and a return on equity of 24.20%. The company had revenue of $393.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $373.87 million. As a group, analysts expect that Atlanticus will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atlanticus Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be issued a $0.4766 dividend. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atlanticus

In other news, Director Deal W. Hudson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.39, for a total value of $124,780.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 61,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,811,529.88. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 50.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Atlanticus

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 151.5% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 503 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 229.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Atlanticus in the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in shares of Atlanticus in the 1st quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE bought a new stake in shares of Atlanticus in the 1st quarter valued at about $74,000. 14.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Atlanticus

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.