StockNews.com Downgrades Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS) to Buy

StockNews.com cut shares of Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Consumer Portfolio Services Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CPSS traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $10.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,992. Consumer Portfolio Services has a fifty-two week low of $7.03 and a fifty-two week high of $12.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.52, a quick ratio of 19.16 and a current ratio of 19.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 1.99.

Consumer Portfolio Services (NASDAQ:CPSS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.01). Consumer Portfolio Services had a return on equity of 7.59% and a net margin of 5.59%. The company had revenue of $100.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.34 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Consumer Portfolio Services will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Consumer Portfolio Services

In other news, Director Greg Washer sold 10,981 shares of Consumer Portfolio Services stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.06, for a total transaction of $121,449.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 265,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,930,900. This trade represents a 3.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Charles E. Bradley, Jr. sold 70,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.85, for a total value of $689,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,720,092 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,642,906.20. This represents a 1.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 262,256 shares of company stock valued at $2,667,334 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 69.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Consumer Portfolio Services by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 521,457 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,942,000 after purchasing an additional 3,418 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Consumer Portfolio Services by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 99,481 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Consumer Portfolio Services by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 142,520 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,337,000 after buying an additional 7,236 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Consumer Portfolio Services during the third quarter valued at about $445,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Consumer Portfolio Services during the third quarter worth about $960,000. 47.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Consumer Portfolio Services Company Profile

Consumer Portfolio Services, Inc operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. It is involved in the purchase and service of retail automobile contracts originated by franchised automobile dealers and select independent dealers in the sale of new and used automobiles, light trucks, and passenger vans.