Asta Funding Gets an Analyst Rating with a Word of Caution

Asta Funding, a leading debt purchaser/collector, saw its shares dip yesterday on word that an analyst had initiated coverage on the company with a “reduce” rating.

SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Mark Hughes noted in the coverage that "A number of factors point to increasing use of more aggressive financial techniques by Asta and this could, in our view, herald future earnings disappointments.” Hughes also intimated that a larger share of the company’s future profits could come from reselling portfolio rather than collecting on them.

Although Asta shares dipped more than 5% yesterday, the company has seen its stock regain about half of those losses in early trading today.

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