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

Analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) in a research report issued on Saturday. The brokerage set a “sell” rating on the business services provider’s stock.

PFMT has been the topic of several other reports. B. Riley cut their price target on shares of Performant Financial from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum raised Performant Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Performant Financial Stock Performance

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

Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03). The business had revenue of $31.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm earned ($0.01) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Performant Financial will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Performant Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Performant Financial by 195.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 111,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 73,748 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Performant Financial by 4.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,626,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,084,000 after acquiring an additional 70,080 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Performant Financial by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,105,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,134,000 after acquiring an additional 7,990 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Performant Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Performant Financial by 55.6% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 69,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 24,803 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.15% of the company’s stock.

Performant Financial Company Profile

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.