Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $61.00.

ATLC has been the topic of several analyst reports. B. Riley raised Atlanticus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Atlanticus from $54.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective (up from $45.00) on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Monday, March 17th.

Atlanticus Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Atlanticus stock opened at $51.90 on Wednesday. Atlanticus has a 1 year low of $23.10 and a 1 year high of $64.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The company has a 50-day moving average of $54.87 and a 200 day moving average of $49.21. The firm has a market cap of $784.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 2.16.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The credit services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $353.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $355.02 million. Atlanticus had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 25.14%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Atlanticus will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atlanticus

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ATLC. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Atlanticus by 159.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 122,225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,818,000 after buying an additional 75,068 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Atlanticus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new position in shares of Atlanticus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $376,000. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in Atlanticus in the fourth quarter worth approximately $987,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Atlanticus by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,829 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares during the period. 14.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Atlanticus Company Profile

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.