Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:ATLC) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $126.00.

ATLC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Atlanticus from $105.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Atlanticus from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Texas Capital upgraded Atlanticus to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Atlanticus from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Atlanticus from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th.

Insider Activity at Atlanticus

In other Atlanticus news, CFO William Mccamey sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 value of $1,030,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 127,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,124,504.10. The trade was a 7.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey A. Howard sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.01, for a total transaction of $1,030,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 663,265 shares in the company, valued at $68,322,927.65. The trade was a 1.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 75,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,868,627 in the last ninety days. 51.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Atlanticus

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ATLC. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in Atlanticus during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Atlanticus by 18.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,280 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Atlanticus by 7.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 69,309 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,637,000 after acquiring an additional 4,556 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 11.8% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,701 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Range Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 5.8% during the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 4,526 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. 14.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Atlanticus Stock Performance

NASDAQ ATLC opened at $96.61 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Atlanticus has a 1 year low of $45.74 and a 1 year high of $112.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 2.11.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The credit services provider reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $679.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $749.36 million. Atlanticus had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 23.43%. Analysts predict that Atlanticus will post 9.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Atlanticus

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation is a specialty financial services holding company that provides credit products and solutions to consumers across the United States. Through its subsidiaries, the company offers proprietary credit card programs, installment loan products and deposit accounts designed to serve customers who may have limited access to traditional credit. Atlanticus markets its offerings through a variety of channels, including direct‐to‐consumer online platforms, mail order, call centers and partnerships with retail and e-commerce businesses.

The company underwrites and services credit card portfolios under private-label and co-branded agreements, combining technology‐enabled underwriting with tailored customer service.