Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

Medallion Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MFIN opened at $7.73 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $8.32 and its 200 day moving average is $8.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $181.50 million, a P/E ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 2.06. Medallion Financial has a fifty-two week low of $5.64 and a fifty-two week high of $10.49.

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The credit services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Medallion Financial had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 14.02%. The firm had revenue of $52.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.89 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Medallion Financial will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Medallion Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Medallion Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medallion Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Medallion Financial by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 24,498 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 5,191 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Medallion Financial by 343.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 35,865 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 27,783 shares during the period. Oracle Alpha Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Medallion Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $199,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Medallion Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $526,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Medallion Financial by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 34,380 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. 40.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Medallion Financial

Medallion Financial Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. It operates in four segments: Recreation Lending, Home Improvement Lending, Commercial Lending, and Taxi Medallion Lending. The company offers loans that finance consumer purchases of recreational vehicles, boats, and other consumer recreational equipment; consumer financing for window, siding, and roof replacement, swimming pool installations, and other home improvement projects; senior and subordinated loans for the purchase of equipment and related assets necessary to open a new business, or purchase or improvement of an existing business; and taxi medallion loans to individuals and small to mid-size businesses.