StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT)

Analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) in a research report issued on Monday. The brokerage set a “sell” rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Craig Hallum upgraded Performant Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. B. Riley lowered their target price on shares of Performant Financial from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Performant Financial Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $278.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.60 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.37. Performant Financial has a 12-month low of $2.37 and a 12-month high of $4.35.

Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03). Performant Financial had a negative net margin of 6.74% and a negative return on equity of 10.19%. The business had revenue of $31.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.01) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Performant Financial will post -0.13 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PFMT. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Performant Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Performant Financial in the third quarter valued at $91,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Performant Financial by 32.1% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 84,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 20,637 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Performant Financial by 55.6% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 69,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 24,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWC Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Performant Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $271,000. 77.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Performant Financial Company Profile

Performant Financial Corporation provides technology-enabled audit, recovery, and analytics services in the United States. The company identifies improper payments resulting from incorrect coding, procedures that were not medically necessary, incomplete documentation or claims submitted based on outdated fee schedules, and coverage discrepancies; and provides first party call center and other outsourced services.