Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - Here's Why

Shares of Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 133,614 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 207% from the previous session's volume of 43,477 shares.The stock last traded at $58.00 and had previously closed at $56.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ATLC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $60.00 target price (up from $52.00) on shares of Atlanticus in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Atlanticus from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Atlanticus currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.60.

Atlanticus Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $842.29 million, a P/E ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

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

Institutional Trading of Atlanticus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atlanticus during the 1st quarter valued at $2,588,000. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atlanticus during the 4th quarter valued at $987,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atlanticus during the 1st quarter valued at $387,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 28,426.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,417 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 7,391 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Atlanticus during the 4th quarter valued at $3,828,000. 14.15% of the stock is currently owned by 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.