NIC Rating Lowered to Market Perform at Barrington Research (EGOV)

NIC (NASDAQ:EGOV) was downgraded by Barrington Research from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note issued on Monday, TheFlyOnTheWall.com reports.

The analysts wrote, “Q2/13 EPS totaled $0.16 on revenue of $65.9 million. Our estimates included revenue of $57 million and EPS of $0.09 with consensus estimates that included revenue of $60.7 million and EPS of $0.11 per share. Q2/13 portal revenue increased 27% to $62.1 million. On a same-state basis, portal revenues were up 19%. Wisconsin signed a new five year agreement for web portal services becoming the 30th state to align itself with NIC’s outsourced self-funded web portal management service. During Q2/13, the states of New Jersey and New Mexico signed one-year contract renewals through June of 2014, Idaho signed a two-year extension through June of 2015 and Vermont signed a three-year contract due to EGOV’s win of the state’s re-bid RFP. RFPs in the market include the states of Connecticut, Washington and Louisiana. Given strong Q2/13 results, management believes it is on pace to meet or exceed the high end of guidance that included total revenues of $232.0-238.5 million, with portal revenues ranging from $220.0-226.0 million, software & services revenues ranging from $12.0-12.5 million and EPS ranging from $0.42-0.46.”

Shares of NIC (NASDAQ:EGOV) opened at 23.81 on Monday. NIC has a one year low of $13.58 and a one year high of $24.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $17.68. The company has a market cap of $1.545 billion and a P/E ratio of 44.09.

NIC (NASDAQ:EGOV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $65.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that NIC will post $0.50 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EGOV has been the subject of a number of other recent research reports. Analysts at Raymond James raised their price target on shares of NIC from $19.00 to $23.00 in a research note to investors on Monday. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock. Separately, analysts at Zacks upgraded shares of NIC from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note to investors on Monday. They now have a $24.00 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at Imperial Capital raised their price target on shares of NIC from $20.00 to $26.00 in a research note to investors on Monday. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.

One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.50.

NIC Inc (NASDAQ:EGOV) is a provider of eGovernment services that assists governments use the Internet.

The Fly On The Wall