American Century Companies Inc. Grows Stake in World Acceptance Co. (NASDAQ:WRLD)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of World Acceptance Co. (NASDAQ:WRLD) by 107.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,580 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,475 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in World Acceptance were worth $4,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WRLD. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of World Acceptance during the fourth quarter valued at about $343,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of World Acceptance by 110.6% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,845 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $893,000 after acquiring an additional 3,595 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of World Acceptance by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 286,578 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $37,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,871 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of World Acceptance by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,786,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of World Acceptance by 277.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 12,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,647,000 after purchasing an additional 9,261 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.63% of the company’s stock.

World Acceptance Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ WRLD opened at $113.66 on Thursday. World Acceptance Co. has a 1 year low of $94.57 and a 1 year high of $149.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 17.02 and a quick ratio of 17.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $118.14 and a 200 day moving average of $127.15. The stock has a market cap of $664.91 million, a P/E ratio of 8.57 and a beta of 1.39.

World Acceptance (NASDAQ:WRLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The credit services provider reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.10. World Acceptance had a return on equity of 18.69% and a net margin of 13.80%. The company had revenue of $129.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that World Acceptance Co. will post 13.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded World Acceptance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other World Acceptance news, insider Luke J. Umstetter sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.78, for a total transaction of $60,390.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,719,665.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 40.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About World Acceptance

World Acceptance Corporation engages in consumer finance business in the United States. The company provides short-term small installment loans, medium-term larger installment loans, related credit insurance, and ancillary products and services to individuals. It offers income tax return preparation and filing services; and automobile club memberships.