Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) Receives $57.20 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.20.

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Atlanticus from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Atlanticus from $54.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. B. Riley raised Atlanticus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Atlanticus in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock.

Atlanticus Trading Down 4.4 %

Shares of Atlanticus stock opened at $53.49 on Friday. Atlanticus has a 52 week low of $23.09 and a 52 week high of $64.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $788.39 million, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 2.05.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $351.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.64 million. Atlanticus had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 25.14%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Atlanticus will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Atlanticus

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Atlanticus by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 122,501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,298,000 after buying an additional 2,348 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,212 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Atlanticus during the third quarter valued at $1,654,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Atlanticus in the 3rd quarter worth about $313,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.