Three Consumer Finance Stocks to Check for Interest
Featured Tickers: ATLC, CACC, ENVA
This week, we use AAII’s A+ Investor Stock Grades to provide insight into three stocks in the consumer finance industry. With consumer finance companies benefitting from sustained inflation and rising interest rates, should you consider the stocks of Atlanticus Holdings Corp. (ATLC), Credit Acceptance Corp. (CACC) and Enova International Inc. (ENVA)?
Consumer Finance Stocks Recent News
Inflation climbed 4.2% year over year in May 2026, its highest level in three years and well above the Federal Reserve’s 2.0% target, according to J.P. Morgan Wealth Management’s Seth Carlson. Energy costs have been a major driver, with gasoline and fuel oil prices rising sharply over the past year, while shelter and other services have stayed at higher prices. Even core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, remains above the level the Fed considers healthy. Analysts note that getting inflation back down to target could take longer than many households and experts are hoping.
As Carlson pointed out, this kind of sustained inflation tends to keep interest rates elevated, since the Fed may need to hold rates steady or raise them to ease prices. Long-term borrowing costs have already responded, as the 30-year Treasury yield briefly reached 5.197% in mid-May—a level that hasn’t been reached since just before the Great Recession. This behavior continues pushing up mortgage rates and other long-term loan costs. Given these conditions, should you consider investing in consumer finance companies like Atlanticus, Credit Acceptance and Enova International?
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Grading Consumer Finance Stocks With AAII’s A+ Stock Grades
When analyzing a company, it is helpful to have an objective framework that allows you to compare companies in the same way. This is why AAII created the A+ Stock Grades, which evaluate companies across five factors that research and real-world investment results indicate to identify market-beating stocks in the long run: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions (and surprises) and quality.
Using AAII’s A+ Stock Grades, the following table summarizes the attractiveness of three consumer finance stocks—Atlanticus, Credit Acceptance and Enova International—based on their fundamentals.
AAII’s A+ Stock Grade Summary for Three Consumer Finance Stocks
What the A+ Stock Grades Reveal
Atlanticus Holdings Corp. (ATLC) is a financial technology and consumer credit company operating primarily in the U.S. It offers credit products and payment solutions for underserved consumers who have limited access to traditional financing. The company operates through two segments: credit as a service and auto finance. Atlanticus provides a broad range of credit services, including private label credit cards, installment loans and healthcare financing, among many others. It also provides auto lending services through its Folio Finance subsidiary, offering vehicle financing to consumers with non-prime credit profiles. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
The company has a Value Grade of B, based on its Value Score of 73, which is good value. The Value Grade is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, price-earnings (P/E) ratio, price-to-book-value (P/B) ratio, price-to-free-cash-flow (P/FCF) ratio, shareholder yield and the ratio of enterprise value to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).
A lower rank on valuation metrics is more attractive. Among all U.S.-listed stocks, Atlanticus ranks in the 36th percentile for its shareholder yield, in the 35th percentile for its price-earnings ratio and in the 52nd percentile for its price-to-sales ratio. The company has a shareholder yield of 0.9%, a price-earnings ratio of 14.5 and a price-to-sales ratio of 2.33.
Earnings estimate revisions indicate how analysts view a firm’s short-term prospects. Atlanticus has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade of B, based on a score of 62, which is positive. The grade is based on the statistical significance of its latest two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months. Atlanticus reported a positive earnings surprise for first-quarter 2026 of 34.3%, and in the prior quarter reported a positive earnings surprise of 11.6%. Over the last three months, the consensus earnings estimate for the second quarter of 2026 has increased from $2.013 to $2.490 per share. The full-year 2026 consensus estimate has increased from $8.928 to $9.633 per share over the same period.
Atlanticus has a Momentum Grade of A, based on its Momentum Score of 91. This means that the stock’s momentum is very strong in terms of its weighted relative strength over the last four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters, with the most recent quarterly price change given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters given a weight of 20%. The scores are 95, 31, 83 and 40, sequentially from the most recent quarter, with higher ranks signaling stronger price momentum. The weighted four-quarter relative price strength is 20.1%.
Credit Acceptance Corp. (CACC) is a specialized automotive finance company operating primarily in the U.S. It offers financing programs and related products for independent and franchised automobile dealers, enabling them to sell vehicles to consumers regardless of their credit history. The company operates through its core dealer-partner program, which provides dealers with financing tools to structure and submit consumer loan applications. Credit Acceptance provides a broad range of services, including consumer loan origination, dealer advance payments, portfolio servicing and credit reporting, allowing dealers to offer financing to consumers with limited or damaged credit profiles. It also provides dealers with marketing support, training and proprietary software tools through its Credit Acceptance Dealer Center platform. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Southfield, Michigan.
Credit Acceptance has a Quality Grade of A, with a score of 93, which is very strong. The company has a strong buyback yield of 11.2%. It also ranks strongly in terms of its return on assets (72nd percentile) and F-Score (93rd percentile). The F-Score is a number between 0 and 9 that assesses the strength of a company’s financial position based on its profitability, leverage, liquidity and operating efficiency.
Credit Acceptance has a Momentum Grade of B, based on its Momentum Score of 77. This means that the stock’s momentum is strong in terms of its weighted relative strength over the last four quarters. The ranks are 90, 51, 42 and 24, sequentially from the most recent quarter. The weighted four-quarter relative price strength is 6.8%.
The company has a Value Grade of B, based on its Value Score of 61, which is good value. Its price-to-free-cash-flow ratio is 6.8 and its shareholder yield is 11.2%, ranking in the 14th and 3rd percentiles, respectively.
The company has a Growth Grade of B, which is strong. The components of the Growth Composite Score consider a company’s success in growing sales on a year-over-year and long-term annualized basis and its ability to consistently generate positive cash from its core operations. Credit Acceptance has generated positive annual cash from operations in the past five consecutive years and has a strong five-year annualized sales growth rate of 6.1%.
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Enova International Inc. (ENVA) is a leading online financial services company operating in the U.S., Brazil and beyond. It offers technology-driven lending and financing solutions for non-prime consumers and small businesses that are underserved by traditional financial institutions. The company operates through a portfolio of brands, including CashNetUSA, NetCredit, OnDeck and Headway Capital, serving both consumer and small business markets. Enova International provides a broad range of credit products, including installment loans, lines of credit, receivables purchase agreements and small business financing, utilizing proprietary analytics and machine learning to assess creditworthiness. It also leverages its advanced technology platform to deliver fast, accessible and transparent financial products to customers who lack access to conventional banking services. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Enova International has a Quality Grade of A, with a score of 82, which is very strong. The company ranks strongly in terms of its buyback yield and accruals to assets. Its buyback yield of 3.1% ranks in the 86th percentile, and its accruals to assets of –22.9% ranks in the 89th percentile.
The company has a Momentum Grade of A, based on its Momentum Score of 93. This means that the stock’s momentum is very strong in terms of its weighted relative price strength over the last four quarters. The ranks are 94, 34, 94 and 37, sequentially from the most recent quarter. The weighted four-quarter relative price strength is 23.8%.
Enova International has a Growth Grade of B, which is strong. The company has generated positive annual cash from operations in the past five consecutive years and has generated year-over-year sales increases in the past five consecutive years.