ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXLS) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $47.37 and last traded at $46.50, with a volume of 120336 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXLS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of ExlService from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of ExlService from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of ExlService from $38.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on ExlService from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on ExlService from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.86.

ExlService Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.02, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.73. The company has a market cap of $7.50 billion, a PE ratio of 41.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.99.

ExlService (NASDAQ:EXLS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $472.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $460.73 million. ExlService had a return on equity of 23.23% and a net margin of 10.61%. ExlService’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that ExlService Holdings, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at ExlService

In related news, CEO Rohit Kapoor sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.45, for a total transaction of $4,145,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,290,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,480,448. This represents a 7.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Vikas Bhalla sold 22,813 shares of ExlService stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.86, for a total transaction of $954,952.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,304,254.50. The trade was a 18.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 461,458 shares of company stock valued at $19,986,814 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ExlService

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EXLS. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of ExlService by 4.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 99,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,953,000 after purchasing an additional 4,029 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in ExlService in the 3rd quarter worth $216,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in ExlService by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 10,744 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in ExlService by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,326,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $165,083,000 after buying an additional 149,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp purchased a new stake in shares of ExlService during the third quarter worth about $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.92% of the company’s stock.

About ExlService

ExlService Holdings, Inc operates as a data analytics, and digital operations and solutions company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Insurance, Healthcare, Analytics, and Emerging Business segments. It also provides digital operations and solutions and analytics-driven services, such as claims processing, premium and benefit administration, agency management, account reconciliation, policy research, underwriting support, new business acquisition, policy servicing, premium audit, surveys, billing and collection, commercial and residential survey, and customer service using digital technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced automation; digital customer acquisition services using a software-as-a-service delivery model through LifePRO and LISS platforms; subrogation services; and Subrosource software platform, an end-to-end subrogation platform.