Atlanticus’ (ATLC) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

BTIG Research reissued their buy rating on shares of Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $179.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Atlanticus in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Atlanticus from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research lowered Atlanticus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of Atlanticus in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.00.

Atlanticus Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ ATLC opened at $91.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Atlanticus has a 12 month low of $47.50 and a 12 month high of $114.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 2.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.87.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.42 by $0.08. Atlanticus had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 25.17%. The firm had revenue of $744.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $716.35 million. Equities analysts expect that Atlanticus will post 9.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atlanticus

In other Atlanticus news, major shareholder Frank J. Hanna III sold 15,676 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.26, for a total value of $1,634,379.76. Following the sale, the insider owned 259,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,044,209.92. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Howard sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.01, for a total transaction of $1,030,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 663,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,322,927.65. This represents a 1.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 55,000 shares of company stock worth $5,679,627. Insiders own 51.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atlanticus

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Atlanticus in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,535,000. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 1,761.6% in the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 118,788 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,233,000 after purchasing an additional 112,407 shares during the last quarter. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Atlanticus in the second quarter worth $9,161,293. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Atlanticus during the second quarter valued at $7,286,000. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 333.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 37,582 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,516,000 after purchasing an additional 28,907 shares in the last quarter. 14.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Atlanticus

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation is a financial technology company that provides credit and related financial services to consumers, particularly those who may have limited access to traditional lending products. The company works with merchants, financial institutions and other business partners to offer financing options at the point of sale and through direct-to-consumer channels.

Its consumer finance activities include retail credit programs, private-label and general-purpose credit cards, personal lending products and other installment financing.