Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at B. Riley

B. Riley upgraded shares of Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on ATLC. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Atlanticus from $54.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research raised their target price on Atlanticus from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $57.20.

Atlanticus Price Performance

ATLC opened at $55.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Atlanticus has a 1 year low of $23.09 and a 1 year high of $64.70. The stock has a market cap of $825.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 2.05.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $351.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.64 million. Atlanticus had a return on equity of 25.14% and a net margin of 8.39%. Analysts forecast that Atlanticus will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Atlanticus

In related news, Director Denise M. Harrod sold 1,141 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $55,909.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,659 shares in the company, valued at $277,291. This represents a 16.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mitchell Saunders sold 16,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.55, for a total transaction of $889,022.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 50,973 shares in the company, valued at $2,831,550.15. This represents a 23.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,504 shares of company stock worth $962,522. 51.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Atlanticus by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 122,501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,298,000 after acquiring an additional 2,348 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 93,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,212 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Atlanticus during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,654,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 5.0% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Atlanticus in the third quarter worth $313,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.15% 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.