Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) Stock Keeps “Buy” Rating at BTIG Research

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at BTIG Research in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $179.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock. BTIG Research’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 105.51% from the company’s previous close.

ATLC has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Texas Capital upgraded shares of Atlanticus from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. HSBC set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Capital One Financial set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Atlanticus in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.00.

Atlanticus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ATLC traded down $5.40 on Tuesday, reaching $87.10. 77,487 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 119,935. 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 1-year low of $47.50 and a 1-year high of $114.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $96.95 and a 200-day moving average of $85.13.

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $1,634,379.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 259,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,044,209.92. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO William McCamey sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 financial officer directly owned 127,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,124,504.10. This represents a 7.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 43,995 shares of company stock valued at $4,552,102 in the last 90 days. 51.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in Atlanticus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $669,000. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Atlanticus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $418,000. Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new stake in Atlanticus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,500,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Atlanticus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $269,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Atlanticus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,286,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.15% of the company’s stock.

Atlanticus Company Profile

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.