Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Stephens

Stephens started coverage on shares of Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $54.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock.

ATLC has been the topic of a number of other reports. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Atlanticus from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Atlanticus from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Atlanticus from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Atlanticus has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.75.

Atlanticus Stock Down 1.3 %

Atlanticus stock opened at $48.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $716.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 1.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.36. Atlanticus has a 1-year low of $23.09 and a 1-year high of $49.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $351.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.64 million. Atlanticus had a return on equity of 25.14% and a net margin of 8.39%. On average, analysts predict that Atlanticus will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Atlanticus news, Director Deal W. Hudson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.35, for a total value of $78,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 64,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,036,339.25. This represents a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 51.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atlanticus

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 258,689 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,655,000 after buying an additional 2,453 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Atlanticus by 2.0% in 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 raised its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 2.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 93,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,212 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Atlanticus during the third quarter valued at about $1,654,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 5.0% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the period. 14.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.