Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC) Given Consensus Rating of "Buy" by 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%.

Shares of Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Buy" by the five research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.20.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Atlanticus

In other news, Director Deal W. Hudson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.39, for a total value of $124,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 61,092 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,811,529.88. This represents a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 50.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atlanticus

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 151.5% in the second quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 503 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in 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 bought a new position in Atlanticus during the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in Atlanticus during the first quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE bought a new position in Atlanticus during the first quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Institutional investors own 14.15% of the company's stock.

Atlanticus Stock Performance

Shares of ATLC opened at $65.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.14. The stock has a market cap of $991.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 1.93. Atlanticus has a 52 week low of $30.00 and a 52 week high of $65.95.

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

Atlanticus Announces Dividend

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

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.

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