Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Craig Hallum

Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.

Separately, B. Riley started coverage on Performant Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. They set a buy rating and a $8.00 price objective on the stock.

Performant Financial Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PFMT opened at $3.56 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $274.80 million, a PE ratio of -39.55 and a beta of 0.13. Performant Financial has a 12-month low of $2.00 and a 12-month high of $4.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.62 and a 200 day moving average of $3.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $29.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.20 million. Performant Financial had a negative net margin of 5.32% and a negative return on equity of 8.11%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.05) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Performant Financial will post -0.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Performant Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFMT. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Performant Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $91,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Performant Financial by 170.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 50,358 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 31,710 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Performant Financial by 32.1% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 84,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 20,637 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Performant Financial by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 200,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $581,000 after buying an additional 31,075 shares during the period. Finally, Kent Lake Capital LLC acquired a new position in Performant Financial during the first quarter valued at $588,000. 77.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Performant Financial

Performant Financial Corporation provides technology-enabled audit, recovery, and analytics services in the United States. The company identifies improper payments resulting from incorrect coding, procedures that were not medically necessary, incomplete documentation or claims submitted based on outdated fee schedules, and coverage discrepancies; and provides first party call center and other outsourced services.