Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLCGet Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.20.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ATLC. B. Riley upgraded shares of Atlanticus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Atlanticus from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Atlanticus from $54.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Atlanticus in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Atlanticus

Atlanticus Stock Performance

NASDAQ ATLC opened at $56.72 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $55.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.30. The company has a market capitalization of $836.00 million, a PE ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 2.05. Atlanticus has a 1 year low of $23.09 and a 1 year high of $64.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLCGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $351.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $326.64 million. Atlanticus had a return on equity of 25.14% and a net margin of 8.39%. As a group, analysts expect that Atlanticus will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Atlanticus

In other news, CAO Mitchell Saunders sold 16,004 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.55, for a total transaction of $889,022.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 50,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,831,550.15. This represents a 23.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Denise M. Harrod sold 1,141 shares of Atlanticus stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $55,909.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,291. This trade represents a 16.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,504 shares of company stock worth $962,522. Company insiders own 51.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Atlanticus

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Atlanticus by 285.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,218 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 6,087 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 122,501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,298,000 after acquiring an additional 2,348 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Atlanticus in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $313,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Atlanticus in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,654,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Atlanticus by 2.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 93,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,212 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.15% of the company’s stock.

About Atlanticus

(Get Free Report

Atlanticus Holdings Corporation, a financial technology company, provides credit and related financial services and products to customers the United States. It operates in two segments, Credit as a Service, and Auto Finance. The Credit as a Service segment originates a range of consumer loan products, such as private label and general purpose credit cards originated by lenders through various channels, including retail and healthcare, direct mail solicitation, digital marketing, and partnerships with third parties; and offers credit to their customers for the purchase of various goods and services, including consumer electronics, furniture, elective medical procedures, healthcare, and home-improvements by partnering with retailers, healthcare providers, and other service providers.

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Analyst Recommendations for Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC)

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