StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) in a research report released on Saturday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on PFMT. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Performant Financial from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Performant Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Performant Financial Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Performant Financial has a 52-week low of $2.37 and a 52-week high of $4.35. The company has a market capitalization of $278.72 million, a P/E ratio of -35.60 and a beta of 0.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.37.

Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03). Performant Financial had a negative net margin of 6.74% and a negative return on equity of 10.19%. The firm had revenue of $31.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Performant Financial will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Performant Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Performant Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Performant Financial in the third quarter valued at about $91,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Performant Financial by 32.1% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 84,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 20,637 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Performant Financial by 55.6% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 69,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 24,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWC Advisors LLC. bought a new position in shares of Performant Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $271,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.15% of the company’s stock.

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.