Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC) saw its shares increase after B. Riley upgraded its price target from $70.00 to $90.00, with the stock opening at $75.31 and last trading at $77.19.
• Despite the upgrade, analyst ratings are mixed; Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock to a "buy," while BTIG Research and JMP Securities maintained "buy" and "market outperform" ratings, respectively.
• Atlanticus recently announced a quarterly dividend payment of $0.4766 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 2.4% for shareholders on record as of September 1st.

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Monday after B. Riley raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $90.00. The stock had previously closed at $72.17, but opened at $75.31. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. Atlanticus shares last traded at $77.19, with a volume of 11,215 shares.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on ATLC. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Atlanticus from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Atlanticus in a report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Atlanticus in a report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.20.

Insider Activity at Atlanticus

In other news, Director Deal W. Hudson sold 2,000 shares of Atlanticus stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.39, for a total transaction of $124,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 61,092 shares in the company, valued at $3,811,529.88. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 51.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of 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 in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Atlanticus in the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in Atlanticus in the first quarter valued at approximately $71,000. US Bancorp DE bought a new position in Atlanticus in the first quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Atlanticus by 334.8% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,735 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 1,336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.15% of the company's stock.

Atlanticus Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $58.95 and a 200-day moving average of $54.02. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 2.00. 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 (NASDAQ:ATLC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $393.82 million for 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Atlanticus Holdings Corporation will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atlanticus Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.4766 dividend. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%.

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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