World Acceptance Co. (NASDAQ:WRLD – Get Rating)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $32.00. The stock had previously closed at $108.49, but opened at $104.15. BMO Capital Markets currently has an underperform rating on the stock. World Acceptance shares last traded at $97.06, with a volume of 14,071 shares trading hands.
WRLD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stephens decreased their price target on World Acceptance from $105.00 to $87.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 28th. StockNews.com cut World Acceptance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 19th.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On World Acceptance
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WRLD. Kize Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of World Acceptance by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Kize Capital LP now owns 206,260 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $23,151,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of World Acceptance by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 138,337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,624 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in World Acceptance by 523.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 91,027 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,813,000 after purchasing an additional 76,432 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in World Acceptance by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 42,115 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,077,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in World Acceptance by 353.1% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 37,498 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,631,000 after acquiring an additional 29,222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.54% of the company’s stock.
World Acceptance Stock Down 10.5 %
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 18.27 and a current ratio of 18.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.92. The stock has a market cap of $607.30 million, a P/E ratio of 41.48 and a beta of 1.29.
World Acceptance (NASDAQ:WRLD – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 27th. The credit services provider reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.39). World Acceptance had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 8.34%. The firm had revenue of $151.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.95 million. Equities research analysts predict that World Acceptance Co. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.
About World Acceptance
World Acceptance Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in small-loan consumer finance business. The company offers short-term small installment loans, medium-term larger installment loans, related credit insurance, and ancillary products and services to individuals. It also provides automobile club memberships to its borrowers; and income tax return preparation and electronic filing services.
