Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) Earns “Buy” Rating from 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 Ratings reports. They currently have a $179.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock. BTIG Research’s price objective points to a potential upside of 101.76% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on ATLC. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Atlanticus in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Capital One Financial set a $144.00 price objective on Atlanticus in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Texas Capital upgraded Atlanticus from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. HSBC set a $144.00 target price on Atlanticus in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Atlanticus from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.00.

Atlanticus Price Performance

Shares of ATLC stock traded down $3.78 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $88.72. 27,404 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 110,667. Atlanticus has a twelve month low of $47.50 and a twelve month high of $114.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.13. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 2.02.

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

Insider Activity

In other Atlanticus news, CFO William McCamey sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.01, for a total value of $1,030,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 127,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,124,504.10. This represents a 7.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey Howard sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.01, for a total value of $1,030,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 663,265 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 43,995 shares of company stock worth $4,552,102 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 51.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atlanticus

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ATLC. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Atlanticus during the 2nd quarter worth $43,535,000. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $6,233,000 after purchasing an additional 112,407 shares during the last quarter. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC bought a new position in shares of Atlanticus in the second quarter worth about $9,161,293. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Atlanticus during the 2nd quarter worth about $7,286,000. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Atlanticus by 333.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 37,582 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,516,000 after purchasing an additional 28,907 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.