Performant Financial Co. (NASDAQ:PFMT) Short Interest Down 15.7% in November

Performant Financial Co. (NASDAQ:PFMT) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 918,700 shares, a drop of 15.7% from the October 31st total of 1,090,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 142,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Craig Hallum raised Performant Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Performant Financial from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Performant Financial by 1.7% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,256,841 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,545,000 after buying an additional 37,500 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Performant Financial by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 84,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 20,637 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Performant Financial by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 526,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,526,000 after purchasing an additional 60,300 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Performant Financial by 18.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 200,208 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 31,075 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Performant Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Institutional investors own 77.15% of the company’s stock.

Performant Financial Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ PFMT opened at $3.14 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $3.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.35. The stock has a market cap of $245.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.40 and a beta of 0.14. Performant Financial has a twelve month low of $2.37 and a twelve month high of $4.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Performant Financial (NASDAQ:PFMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.03) EPS 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 firm had revenue of $31.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Performant Financial will post -0.13 EPS for the current year.

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.