Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) Short Interest Up 13.2% in December

Atlanticus Holdings Co. (NASDAQ:ATLC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 282,000 shares, a growth of 13.2% from the November 30th total of 249,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 34,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.1 days. Approximately 5.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Atlanticus

In related news, Director Denise M. Harrod sold 1,141 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $55,909.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $277,291. The trade was a 16.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mitchell Saunders sold 16,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.55, for a total value of $889,022.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 50,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,831,550.15. This represents a 23.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,504 shares of company stock valued at $962,522 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 51.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atlanticus

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Atlanticus in the third quarter valued at about $1,654,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Atlanticus by 393.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Atlanticus by 9.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 8,127 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Atlanticus by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 8,310 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Atlanticus by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 93,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,278,000 after acquiring an additional 2,212 shares in the last quarter. 14.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Atlanticus Stock Down 1.5 %

ATLC traded down $0.87 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.75. 8,925 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,740. The stock has a market cap of $821.70 million, a P/E ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 2.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.31. Atlanticus has a twelve month low of $23.09 and a twelve month high of $64.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The credit services provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.04. Atlanticus had a return on equity of 25.14% and a net margin of 8.39%. The firm had revenue of $351.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $326.64 million. Equities analysts expect that Atlanticus will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens started coverage on shares of Atlanticus in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. B. Riley raised their price objective on Atlanticus from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JMP Securities boosted their target price on Atlanticus from $54.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research upped their target price on Atlanticus from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $57.20.

About Atlanticus

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.