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

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) in a research note published on Monday. The firm issued a sell rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Performant Financial from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum raised shares of Performant Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st.

Performant Financial Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $278.72 million, a P/E ratio of -35.60 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. Performant Financial has a 12-month low of $2.37 and a 12-month high of $4.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.37.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Performant Financial by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 2,065,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,724,000 after acquiring an additional 13,936 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Performant Financial by 4.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,626,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,084,000 after buying an additional 70,080 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Performant Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,105,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,134,000 after buying an additional 7,990 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Performant Financial by 12.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 526,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after buying an additional 60,300 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Performant Financial by 18.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 200,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $581,000 after buying an additional 31,075 shares during the period. 77.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.