Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Medallion Financial Stock Performance

Shares of MFIN opened at $7.97 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $186.34 million, a P/E ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 2.08. The company’s fifty day moving average is $7.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.69. Medallion Financial has a 1 year low of $5.75 and a 1 year high of $10.49.

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The credit services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.01). Medallion Financial had a return on equity of 12.47% and a net margin of 17.96%. The company had revenue of $52.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.89 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Medallion Financial will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Medallion Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.02%. Medallion Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.87%.

Institutional Trading of Medallion Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC acquired a new position in shares of Medallion Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Medallion Financial by 37.8% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 73,738 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $518,000 after acquiring an additional 20,218 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Medallion Financial in the third quarter valued at $375,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Medallion Financial by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 37,663 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 4,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in Medallion Financial by 85.8% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 22,300 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 10,300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.56% of the company’s stock.

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.