Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Medallion Financial Stock Performance

MFIN opened at $9.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $228.60 million, a PE ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Medallion Financial has a 1 year low of $6.48 and a 1 year high of $10.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.15.

Medallion Financial (NASDAQ:MFIN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $77.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.88 million. Medallion Financial had a return on equity of 9.59% and a net margin of 13.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Medallion Financial will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Medallion Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. This is a positive change from Medallion Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Medallion Financial’s payout ratio is currently 26.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medallion Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MFIN. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Medallion Financial in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medallion Financial in the first quarter worth about $169,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Medallion Financial by 2,306.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 24,185 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 23,180 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Medallion Financial by 13.2% during the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 41,664 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 4,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Medallion Financial during the second quarter worth about $462,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.56% of the company’s stock.

Medallion Financial Company Profile

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.