Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) in a report issued on Tuesday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on PFMT. Craig Hallum upgraded Performant Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. B. Riley cut their price target on Performant Financial from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Performant Financial Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $278.72 million, a PE ratio of -35.60 and a beta of 0.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. Performant Financial has a 1 year low of $2.37 and a 1 year high of $4.35.

Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.03). The business had revenue of $31.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.70 million. Performant Financial had a negative return on equity of 10.19% and a negative net margin of 6.74%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Performant Financial will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Performant Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Performant Financial by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 526,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after purchasing an additional 60,300 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Performant Financial by 55.6% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 69,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 24,803 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Performant Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $91,000. CWC Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Performant Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Performant Financial by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 2,065,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,724,000 after purchasing an additional 13,936 shares during the last quarter. 77.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Performant Financial

Performant Financial Corporation provides technology-enabled audit, recovery, and analytics services in the United States. The company identifies improper payments resulting from incorrect coding, procedures that were not medically necessary, incomplete documentation or claims submitted based on outdated fee schedules, and coverage discrepancies; and provides first party call center and other outsourced services.