Abacus Life, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABL) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Abacus Life, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABL) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 483,200 shares, a drop of 17.8% from the November 30th total of 587,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 180,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Abacus Life Stock Performance

NASDAQ ABL opened at $7.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $656.26 million, a PE ratio of -43.05 and a beta of 0.13. Abacus Life has a 12 month low of $7.07 and a 12 month high of $13.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $8.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Abacus Life (NASDAQ:ABL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. Abacus Life had a negative net margin of 11.65% and a positive return on equity of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $28.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Abacus Life will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ABL. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $13.00 price target (up from $12.00) on shares of Abacus Life in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Northland Securities initiated coverage on Abacus Life in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $13.50 target price for the company. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Abacus Life from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Northland Capmk raised shares of Abacus Life to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abacus Life news, CEO Jay J. Jackson sold 2,031,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total value of $16,250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 10,562,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,496,000. This represents a 16.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Adam Samuel Gusky acquired 18,241 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $7.54 per share, for a total transaction of $137,537.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $308,830.86. This represents a 80.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 36,367 shares of company stock valued at $279,626 and have sold 2,263,300 shares valued at $18,106,400. 79.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abacus Life

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ABL. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Abacus Life by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,011,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,233,000 after acquiring an additional 74,172 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Abacus Life by 3.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 437,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,382,000 after purchasing an additional 15,308 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Abacus Life by 439.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 171,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 140,054 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abacus Life during the third quarter valued at about $614,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Abacus Life by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 297,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,006,000 after buying an additional 77,000 shares in the last quarter.

About Abacus Life

Abacus Life, Inc operates as an alternative asset manager specializing in life insurance products. It purchases life insurance policies from consumers seeking liquidity and manages policies over time via trading, holding, and/or servicing. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Orlando, Florida.