Zacks Research Upgrades Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) to Hold

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings cut Medallion Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Medallion Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ MFIN traded up $0.04 on Monday, hitting $9.46. 2,737 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 54,221. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.38 and a 200-day moving average of $9.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Medallion Financial has a 52 week low of $7.85 and a 52 week high of $11.00. The stock has a market cap of $222.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 0.84.

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The credit services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.09. Medallion Financial had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 12.18%.The firm had revenue of $55.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.20 million. Analysts expect that Medallion Financial will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medallion Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MFIN. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Medallion Financial by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 340,123 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,500,000 after acquiring an additional 87,321 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC bought a new position in shares of Medallion Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $739,000. Teton Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Medallion Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $606,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Medallion Financial by 83.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 129,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 59,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Medallion Financial by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 180,079 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,851,000 after acquiring an additional 51,822 shares during the last quarter. 40.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Medallion Financial Company Profile

Medallion Financial Corporation is a specialty finance company that provides asset-based lending solutions to small and mid-sized businesses in the United States. The company’s core business activities include secured loans collateralized by business assets such as insurance premiums, commercial real estate, maritime assets and portfolio receivables. Through its insurance premium finance division, Medallion offers short-term loans that allow policyholders to spread insurance costs over multiple payments, while its portfolio financing arm provides funding against a borrower’s existing asset portfolios.

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Medallion Financial originally established itself in the taxi medallion lending market, extending loans secured by New York City cab medallions.