Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from five research firms, with an average twelve-month target price of $62.60.
• Recent modifications by hedge funds include significant new positions and stake increases, with institutional investors collectively owning 14.15% of the company's stock.
• Atlanticus reported an EPS of $1.49 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, despite revenue slightly missing expectations at $344.87 million.

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Buy" from the five analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.60.

A number of research firms have commented on ATLC. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Atlanticus from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Atlanticus from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $52.00) on shares of Atlanticus in a report on Monday, May 12th.

Institutional Trading of Atlanticus

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATLC. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Atlanticus in the second quarter valued at about $106,000. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Atlanticus by 56.4% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 8,590 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 3,098 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Atlanticus by 47.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 38,312 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,960,000 after buying an additional 12,308 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in Atlanticus in the first quarter valued at about $71,000. 14.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Atlanticus Price Performance

Atlanticus stock traded down $1.43 on Tuesday, reaching $48.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,911. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $729.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 1.83. The business's fifty day moving average price is $52.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.19. Atlanticus has a twelve month low of $25.44 and a twelve month high of $64.70.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The credit services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $344.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $347.24 million. Atlanticus had a return on equity of 24.51% and a net margin of 8.54%. Equities analysts expect that Atlanticus will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.