Fluent (NASDAQ:FLNT) Now Covered by Lake Street Capital

Key Points

• Lake Street Capital initiated coverage on Fluent with a Buy rating and a $5.00 price target, implying about a 54% upside from the prior close.
• Fluent missed quarterly EPS expectations (reported -$0.09 vs. -$0.04 consensus), posted a negative net margin and ROE, and sell-side analysts expect about -$0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year despite revenue roughly in line with estimates.
• Insiders bought shares recently — including two purchases of 65,148 shares at $3.47 — bringing insider ownership to 43.51% and insiders acquiring 164,835 shares in the past 90 days.

Lake Street Capital initiated coverage on shares of Fluent (NASDAQ:FLNT - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $5.00 price target on the stock. Lake Street Capital's price target suggests a potential upside of 54.32% from the company's previous close.

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Fluent from $2.50 to $3.50 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $4.25.

Fluent Trading Down 6.4%

Shares of FLNT opened at $3.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.58 million, a PE ratio of -2.97 and a beta of 1.02. The company's fifty day moving average is $3.32 and its 200 day moving average is $2.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Fluent has a fifty-two week low of $1.50 and a fifty-two week high of $4.15.

Fluent (NASDAQ:FLNT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 9th. The company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.05). Fluent had a negative net margin of 13.01% and a negative return on equity of 119.04%. The business had revenue of $61.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.85 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Fluent will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Global Value Investment Corp. purchased 65,148 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.47 per share, with a total value of $226,063.56. Following the purchase, the insider owned 3,089,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,721,175.72. This trade represents a 2.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James Geygan purchased 65,148 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.47 per share, for a total transaction of $226,063.56. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,040,655 shares in the company, valued at $10,551,072.85. The trade was a 2.19% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders bought a total of 164,835 shares of company stock valued at $572,666 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 43.51% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FLNT. Susquehanna International Group LLP boosted its holdings in Fluent by 65.3% during the 3rd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 39,947 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 15,777 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fluent during the fourth quarter worth $84,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fluent by 44.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 144,713 shares of the company's stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 44,684 shares during the period. Finally, Mink Brook Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fluent during the third quarter valued at $634,000. Institutional investors own 23.33% of the company's stock.

About Fluent

Fluent, Inc is a performance marketing and customer acquisition platform that helps consumer brands drive leads and sales through data-driven digital campaigns. The company specializes in direct-response marketing, executing campaigns across multiple channels including email, display, paid search, social media and native advertising. By focusing on measurable outcomes such as cost per acquisition and return on ad spend, Fluent tailors solutions to meet the specific objectives of its clients.

The company's proprietary technology leverages first-party data sourced from its network of consumer-facing digital properties and programmatic partnerships.

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