Zacks Research Downgrades Green Dot (NYSE:GDOT) to Hold

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Green Dot from a “strong-buy” to a “hold,” adding to a mixed analyst outlook on the stock.
• Other recent analyst calls include a sell rating from Weiss Ratings, a buy from Craig Hallum with an $18 price target, and a hold upgrade from Wall Street Zen. Overall, the stock now carries a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $16.12.
• Green Dot recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $1.12 EPS versus $0.88 expected and revenue of $652.03 million versus $597.39 million estimated. Institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 92.56% of shares.

Green Dot (NYSE:GDOT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on GDOT. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Green Dot in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Craig Hallum reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Green Dot in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Green Dot from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $16.12.

Green Dot Price Performance

Green Dot stock opened at $13.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.50. Green Dot has a 52 week low of $9.31 and a 52 week high of $15.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $756.51 million, a P/E ratio of -10.11 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $12.97 and a 200-day moving average of $12.29.

Green Dot (NYSE:GDOT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $652.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $597.39 million. Green Dot had a positive return on equity of 7.56% and a negative net margin of 3.25%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Green Dot will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Topline Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Green Dot by 7.2% during the second quarter. Topline Capital Management LLC now owns 4,965,286 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,526,000 after purchasing an additional 331,817 shares during the period. No Street GP LP grew its stake in shares of Green Dot by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. No Street GP LP now owns 4,000,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,720,000 after buying an additional 2,400,000 shares during the period. Steel Partners Holdings L.P. bought a new stake in Green Dot in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,332,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Green Dot by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,058,944 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,322,000 after buying an additional 222,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Standard LLC raised its stake in Green Dot by 196.8% during the 4th quarter. Western Standard LLC now owns 1,977,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,332,000 after buying an additional 1,311,170 shares during the period. 92.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Green Dot

Green Dot Corporation NYSE: GDOT is a financial technology and bank holding company that provides prepaid debit cards, cash reload processing services and consumer banking products through its subsidiary, Green Dot Bank. The firm offers reloadable prepaid cards under its own brand and through partnerships with retailers, payments networks and banks. In addition to consumer-focused prepaid card accounts, Green Dot delivers payroll card services, government disbursement programs and B2B payment solutions that enable businesses to distribute funds digitally to end users.

Founded in 1999 by Steve Streit and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Green Dot began as a prepaid MasterCard provider sold through retail outlets.

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