Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• The average consensus rating for Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC) is a "Moderate Buy", with two analysts providing a hold rating and five issuing buy ratings.
• Analysts expect the stock's one-year target price to reach $76.60, with some estimates as high as $95.00 after recent price objective upgrades.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.4766 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.5%.

Shares of Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.60.

ATLC has been the subject of several analyst reports. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Atlanticus from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Atlanticus from $78.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective on Atlanticus from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th.

Insider Activity at Atlanticus

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ATLC. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Atlanticus by 198.9% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 365,278 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $18,684,000 after buying an additional 243,053 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Atlanticus by 468.2% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 69,298 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,794,000 after buying an additional 57,103 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Atlanticus by 133.5% during the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 93,234 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,105,000 after buying an additional 53,312 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atlanticus during the first quarter worth $2,588,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Atlanticus by 82.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 95,476 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,884,000 after buying an additional 43,142 shares during the period. 14.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atlanticus Price Performance

ATLC stock opened at $54.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $827.97 million, a PE ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 2.15. Atlanticus has a 1 year low of $34.79 and a 1 year high of $78.91.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $393.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $373.87 million. Atlanticus had a return on equity of 24.20% and a net margin of 8.51%. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.4766 per share. This represents a $1.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%.

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.

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