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 research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Medallion Financial Stock Up 0.8 %

MFIN stock opened at $9.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.01 million, a PE ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Medallion Financial has a twelve month low of $6.48 and a twelve month high of $10.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $8.71 and its 200-day moving average is $8.23.

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $77.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.88 million. Medallion Financial had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 13.72%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Medallion Financial will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Medallion Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is an increase from Medallion Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Medallion Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.04%.

Institutional Trading of Medallion Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Medallion Financial by 297.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 26,063 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 19,508 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Medallion Financial by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,294 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 4,002 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Medallion Financial by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 416,956 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,394,000 after acquiring an additional 9,849 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medallion Financial during the third quarter worth $117,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Medallion Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 204,558 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,665,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333 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.