Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) Receives $57.20 Average PT from Brokerages

Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the five research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.20.

ATLC has been the subject of several recent research reports. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Atlanticus from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Atlanticus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens began coverage on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $54.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their target price on Atlanticus from $54.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Atlanticus Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Atlanticus stock opened at $58.76 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Atlanticus has a twelve month low of $23.09 and a twelve month high of $64.70. The stock has a market cap of $866.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 2.10.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $351.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $326.64 million. Atlanticus had a return on equity of 25.14% and a net margin of 8.39%. Equities research analysts forecast that Atlanticus will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Atlanticus

In other Atlanticus news, CAO Mitchell Saunders sold 16,004 shares of Atlanticus stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.55, for a total value of $889,022.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Denise M. Harrod sold 1,141 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $55,909.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,659 shares in the company, valued at $277,291. This trade represents a 16.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,504 shares of company stock valued at $962,522. Insiders own 51.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atlanticus

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in shares of Atlanticus by 9.3% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 8,310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Atlanticus by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Atlanticus by 393.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 158.8% in the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,212 shares during the last quarter. 14.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.