Nuveen LLC Purchases Shares of 12,615 Atlanticus Holdings Corporation $ATLC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Atlanticus Holdings Corporation, purchasing 12,615 shares valued at approximately $645,000, increasing the institutional ownership in the company.
• Atlanticus recently reported an EPS of $1.51 for the quarter, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4766 per share, resulting in a 2.8% yield.
• Analysts have responded positively to Atlanticus, with ratings upgrades and revised price targets, indicating a consensus forecast of a Buy rating for the stock.

Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 12,615 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $645,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Atlanticus at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 229.4% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 728 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Atlanticus in the first quarter worth $56,000. US Bancorp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Atlanticus in the 1st quarter worth about $74,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Atlanticus in the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Atlanticus during the first quarter valued at approximately $207,000. 14.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atlanticus

In other Atlanticus news, Director Deal W. Hudson sold 2,000 shares of Atlanticus stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 61,092 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,811,529.88. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 51.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Atlanticus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ATLC traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $68.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,456. Atlanticus Holdings Corporation has a one year low of $30.00 and a one year high of $69.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 2.00.

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

Atlanticus Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ATLC. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Atlanticus from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $52.00) on shares of Atlanticus in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of 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 given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $63.20.

Atlanticus 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.