American Century Companies Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Atlanticus Holdings Corporation $ATLC

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Atlanticus Holdings Corporation by 82.4%, holding about 95,476 shares worth approximately $4.88 million.
• Atlanticus reported earnings of $1.51 per share, surpassing analyst estimates by $0.21, and generated $393.82 million in revenue for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4766 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.9% for shareholders.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC - Free Report) by 82.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 95,476 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 43,142 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.63% of Atlanticus worth $4,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ATLC. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Atlanticus by 229.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 728 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Atlanticus in the first quarter worth about $56,000. US Bancorp DE bought a new position in Atlanticus in the first quarter worth about $74,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new position in Atlanticus in the fourth quarter worth about $143,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in Atlanticus in the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. 14.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATLC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of Atlanticus in a report on Monday, May 12th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Atlanticus from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Atlanticus from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $63.20.

Atlanticus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ATLC traded up $1.66 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $68.76. 35,202 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 43,699. Atlanticus Holdings Corporation has a 1 year low of $30.00 and a 1 year high of $68.79. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08 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. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.63.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.21. Atlanticus had a return on equity of 24.20% and a net margin of 8.51%.The firm had revenue of $393.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $373.87 million. Equities analysts predict that Atlanticus Holdings Corporation will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atlanticus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.4766 per share. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atlanticus

In other news, Director Deal W. Hudson sold 2,000 shares of the 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 approximately $3,811,529.88. This represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 50.40% of the company's stock.

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.