Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the business services provider’s stock.

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

Performant Financial Stock Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $278.72 million, a P/E ratio of -35.60 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.37. Performant Financial has a 1 year low of $2.37 and a 1 year high of $4.35.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Performant Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 7,990 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Performant Financial by 0.7% during the third quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 2,065,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,724,000 after purchasing an additional 13,936 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Performant Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Performant Financial by 32.1% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 84,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 20,637 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Performant Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Institutional investors own 77.15% of the company’s stock.

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.