Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

Separately, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Medallion Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st.

Medallion Financial Price Performance

MFIN opened at $10.44 on Monday. Medallion Financial has a 12-month low of $7.39 and a 12-month high of $10.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.12. The company has a market capitalization of $242.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 1.28.

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $53.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.07 million. Medallion Financial had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 12.62%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Medallion Financial will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Medallion Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Medallion Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 27.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medallion Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Medallion Financial by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 11,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 2,256 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Medallion Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $92,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Medallion Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $150,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Medallion Financial by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,247 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 4,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in Medallion Financial by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 98,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 7,242 shares during the last quarter. 40.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.