Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.5625.

A number of equities analysts have commented on GDOT shares. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Green Dot in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Northland Securities set a $14.25 price objective on Green Dot and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Green Dot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Green Dot in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Green Dot from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th.

Green Dot Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE GDOT opened at $11.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $654.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.89 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Green Dot has a 52-week low of $6.12 and a 52-week high of $15.41.

Green Dot (NYSE:GDOT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.17. Green Dot had a negative net margin of 2.33% and a positive return on equity of 9.81%. The firm had revenue of $491.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $483.84 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. Green Dot’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Green Dot will post 0.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Saturnino Sixto Fanlo sold 13,451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.61, for a total transaction of $169,617.11. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 92,737 shares in the company, valued at $1,169,413.57. The trade was a 12.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J Chris Brewster sold 7,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.37, for a total value of $98,576.53. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 133,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,647,869.55. This trade represents a 5.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Green Dot

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Green Dot by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Green Dot by 406.7% during the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 1,233,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,797,000 after acquiring an additional 989,823 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Green Dot by 64.9% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 22,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its holdings in shares of Green Dot by 175.1% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 343,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,405,000 after purchasing an additional 218,870 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Green Dot by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 26,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,228 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.56% of the company’s stock.

Green Dot Company Profile

Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT) is a financial technology and bank holding company that provides prepaid debit cards, cash reload processing services and consumer banking products through its subsidiary, Green Dot Bank. The firm offers reloadable prepaid cards under its own brand and through partnerships with retailers, payments networks and banks. In addition to consumer-focused prepaid card accounts, Green Dot delivers payroll card services, government disbursement programs and B2B payment solutions that enable businesses to distribute funds digitally to end users.

Founded in 1999 by Steve Streit and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Green Dot began as a prepaid MasterCard provider sold through retail outlets.