Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

Medallion Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MFIN opened at $7.97 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $8.03 and its 200-day moving average is $8.30. Medallion Financial has a 52-week low of $6.28 and a 52-week high of $10.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $186.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 2.16.

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.03). Medallion Financial had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 14.97%. The company had revenue of $71.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $50.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Medallion Financial will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Medallion Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.02%. Medallion Financial’s payout ratio is currently 18.87%.

Institutional Trading of Medallion Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MFIN. AJOVista LLC bought a new stake in Medallion Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $90,000. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Medallion Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $161,000. Denali Advisors LLC boosted its position in Medallion Financial by 100.4% in the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 44,700 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 22,400 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Medallion Financial in the first quarter valued at about $169,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Medallion Financial by 3.3% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 98,279 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 3,125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.56% of the company’s stock.

Medallion Financial Company Profile

Medallion Financial Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. It operates in four segments: Recreation Lending, Home Improvement Lending, Commercial Lending, and Taxi Medallion Lending. The company offers loans that finance consumer purchases of recreational vehicles, boats, and other consumer recreational equipment; consumer financing for window, siding, and roof replacement, swimming pool installations, and other home improvement projects; senior and subordinated loans for the purchase of equipment and related assets necessary to open a new business, or purchase or improvement of an existing business; and taxi medallion loans to individuals and small to mid-size businesses.