Globeflex Capital L P Takes Position in Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC)

Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new stake in shares of Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,134 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $119,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 8,128 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 5.0% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,454 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 393.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 158.8% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 1,823 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 14.15% of the company’s stock.

Atlanticus Trading Up 11.3 %

Atlanticus stock opened at $48.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $716.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 2.16. Atlanticus Holdings Co. has a 1 year low of $23.09 and a 1 year high of $64.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $55.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.29.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The credit services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.19. Atlanticus had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 25.14%. The firm had revenue of $353.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $355.02 million. On average, research analysts predict that Atlanticus Holdings Co. will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Atlanticus from $54.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. B. Riley upgraded shares of Atlanticus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $57.20.

Atlanticus Profile

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.