ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on EXLS. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on ExlService from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on ExlService from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of ExlService from $38.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.86.

ExlService Price Performance

EXLS opened at $47.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.36, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 3.02, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.80. ExlService has a 12-month low of $28.16 and a 12-month high of $47.93.

ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $472.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $460.73 million. ExlService had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 23.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ExlService will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Rohit Kapoor sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.07, for a total value of $4,207,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,190,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,073,396.80. The trade was a 7.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jaynie M. Studenmund sold 3,645 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.05, for a total value of $160,562.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,249. The trade was a 20.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 426,458 shares of company stock worth $18,720,514 over the last 90 days. 4.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of ExlService

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ExlService by 2.3% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ExlService by 2.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 493,621 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,480,000 after purchasing an additional 11,924 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of ExlService by 2.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,468,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $108,756,000 after purchasing an additional 88,759 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ExlService by 317.0% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 255,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,003,000 after purchasing an additional 194,000 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in ExlService by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 8,897 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. 92.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ExlService

ExlService Holdings, Inc operates as a data analytics, and digital operations and solutions company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Insurance, Healthcare, Analytics, and Emerging Business segments. It also provides digital operations and solutions and analytics-driven services, such as claims processing, premium and benefit administration, agency management, account reconciliation, policy research, underwriting support, new business acquisition, policy servicing, premium audit, surveys, billing and collection, commercial and residential survey, and customer service using digital technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced automation; digital customer acquisition services using a software-as-a-service delivery model through LifePRO and LISS platforms; subrogation services; and Subrosource software platform, an end-to-end subrogation platform.