SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in World Acceptance Co. (NASDAQ:WRLD)

Posted by MarketBeat News on Aug 5th, 2022

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its stake in World Acceptance Co. (NASDAQ:WRLD – Get Rating) by 40.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,847 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,952 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in World Acceptance were worth $546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in World Acceptance by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 50,396 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,368,000 after purchasing an additional 8,115 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of World Acceptance by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 33,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,234,000 after acquiring an additional 4,731 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of World Acceptance by 269.2% during the fourth quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 12,301 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,019,000 after acquiring an additional 8,969 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of World Acceptance by 1.1% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 9,371 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,798,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of World Acceptance by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,918 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,529 shares during the last quarter. 85.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

World Acceptance Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WRLD opened at $122.23 on Friday. World Acceptance Co. has a 1-year low of $98.96 and a 1-year high of $265.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 17.67 and a quick ratio of 15.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $119.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.42. The firm has a market cap of $767.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.04 and a beta of 1.48.

World Acceptance (NASDAQ:WRLD – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The credit services provider reported ($1.53) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($2.38). World Acceptance had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 11.50%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that World Acceptance Co. will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WRLD. StockNews.com upgraded shares of World Acceptance from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of World Acceptance from $57.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, July 29th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of World Acceptance from $159.00 to $105.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 28th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of World Acceptance from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 12th.

World Acceptance Profile

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World Acceptance Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in small-loan consumer finance business. The company offers short-term small installment loans, medium-term larger installment loans, related credit insurance, and ancillary products and services to individuals. It also provides automobile club memberships to its borrowers; and income tax return preparation and electronic filing services.