Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) Receives $57.20 Average PT from Analysts

Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $57.20.

ATLC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Atlanticus from $54.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. B. Riley upgraded shares of Atlanticus to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens started coverage on shares of Atlanticus in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Atlanticus from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atlanticus

In other Atlanticus news, Director Denise M. Harrod sold 1,141 shares of Atlanticus stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total value of $55,909.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,659 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $277,291. The trade was a 16.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $889,022.20. Following 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 trade represents a 23.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,504 shares of company stock valued at $962,522. 51.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ATLC. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,348 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 2.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 93,431 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,212 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Atlanticus during the third quarter worth about $1,654,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Atlanticus by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,004 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,451,000 after buying an additional 9,026 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Atlanticus in the third quarter valued at about $313,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.15% of the company's stock.

Atlanticus Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ATLC traded down $1.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.52. The company had a trading volume of 37,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 64,419. Atlanticus has a 52-week low of $23.09 and a 52-week high of $64.70. The stock has a market cap of $847.79 million, a P/E ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 2.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.64.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $351.22 million for 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Atlanticus will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

About Atlanticus

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.