Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

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

Several other research firms have also issued reports on PFMT. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Performant Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Performant Financial from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Performant Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $278.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.60 and a beta of 0.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Performant Financial has a fifty-two week low of $2.37 and a fifty-two week high of $4.35.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Performant Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Performant Financial by 195.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 111,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 73,748 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Performant Financial by 4.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,626,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,084,000 after purchasing an additional 70,080 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Performant Financial by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,105,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,134,000 after acquiring an additional 7,990 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Performant Financial during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 24,803 shares in the last quarter. 77.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Performant Financial

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.