Fluent (NASDAQ:FLNT) Shares Up 0.3% – Still a Buy?

Fluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:FLNT) shares rose 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $3.22 and last traded at $3.05. 93,730 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 170% from the average session volume of 34,665 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FLNT. Lake Street Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $5.50 price target (up from $5.00) on shares of Fluent in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $4.50 price objective on Fluent and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.00.

Fluent Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $96.41 million, a P/E ratio of -3.96 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $3.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.28.

Fluent (NASDAQ:FLNT) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.02. Fluent had a negative return on equity of 155.09% and a negative net margin of 11.48%.The company had revenue of $48.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.64 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fluent, Inc. will post -0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Fluent

In related news, major shareholder Global Value Investment Corp. acquired 61,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.75 per share, with a total value of $168,762.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 3,151,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,665,371. This represents a 1.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James Geygan acquired 60,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $2.75 per share, for a total transaction of $165,503.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,100,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,527,304.50. This represents a 1.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 125,559 shares of company stock valued at $346,254. Company insiders own 38.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fluent

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in Fluent during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,933,000. Tieton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Fluent during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,387,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Fluent by 117.5% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 508,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 274,533 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fluent by 44.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 144,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 44,684 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Fluent by 65.3% in the third quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 39,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 15,777 shares in the last quarter. 23.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fluent Company Profile

Fluent, Inc is a performance marketing and customer acquisition platform that helps consumer brands drive leads and sales through data-driven digital campaigns. The company specializes in direct-response marketing, executing campaigns across multiple channels including email, display, paid search, social media and native advertising. By focusing on measurable outcomes such as cost per acquisition and return on ad spend, Fluent tailors solutions to meet the specific objectives of its clients.

The company’s proprietary technology leverages first-party data sourced from its network of consumer-facing digital properties and programmatic partnerships.