Short Interest in Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) Rises By 7.5%

Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) saw a large growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 359,100 shares, a growth of 7.5% from the June 30th total of 333,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 22,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 16.1 days. Currently, 7.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity at Atlanticus

In other Atlanticus news, Director Deal W. Hudson sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.05, for a total transaction of $31,260.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 68,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,788,462.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 51.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Atlanticus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 65.5% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Atlanticus by 7.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,094 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 5.2% during the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 26,040 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 258,689 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,655,000 after buying an additional 2,453 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Atlanticus by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 602,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $23,290,000 after acquiring an additional 7,234 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ATLC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Atlanticus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Atlanticus in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Atlanticus in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.25.

Atlanticus Price Performance

Shares of Atlanticus stock traded up $0.24 on Wednesday, hitting $35.54. 4,551 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,050. Atlanticus has a 12-month low of $23.09 and a 12-month high of $40.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.00. The company has a market cap of $525.64 million, a P/E ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The credit services provider reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $290.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.78 million. Atlanticus had a return on equity of 26.67% and a net margin of 8.67%. Analysts expect that Atlanticus will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atlanticus Company 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.