How to buy Alliance Data Systems Corporation stock | 54.23

Alliance Data Systems Corporation is a credit services business based in the US. Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares (ADS) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Alliance Data Systems Corporation employs 8,500 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$4.9 billion.

How to buy shares in Alliance Data Systems Corporation

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Alliance Data Systems Corporation. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: ADS. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Alliance Data Systems Corporation reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$54.23, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Alliance Data Systems Corporation, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Alliance Data Systems Corporation. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

How has coronavirus impacted Alliance Data Systems Corporation's share price?

Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Alliance Data Systems Corporation's share price has had significant negative movement.

Its last market close was USD$54.23, which is 46.92% down on its pre-crash value of USD$102.16 and 164.41% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as USD$20.51.

If you had bought USD$1,000 worth of Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth USD$308.34 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth USD$539.05.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation share price

Use our graph to track the performance of ADS stocks over time.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-11-20.

Latest market close	USD$54.23
52-week range	USD$20.2524 - USD$113.4802
50-day moving average	USD$54.6331
200-day moving average	USD$48.1167
Wall St. target price	USD$66.19
PE ratio	9.4506
Dividend yield	USD$0.84 (1.26%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$6.285

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Is it a good time to buy Alliance Data Systems Corporation stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Alliance Data Systems Corporation by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $54.23 from 2020-10-19

1 week (2020-11-19)	-20.21%
1 month (2020-10-26)	16.12%
3 months (2020-08-26)	20.73%
6 months (2020-05-26)	9.73%

1 year (2019-11-26)	-48.86%
2 years (2018-11-26)	-73.01%
3 years (2017-11-24)	-75.57%
5 years (2015-11-25)	-81.06%

Is Alliance Data Systems Corporation under- or over-valued?

Valuing Alliance Data Systems Corporation stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Alliance Data Systems Corporation's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's P/E ratio

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 9x. In other words, Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares trade at around 9x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's PEG ratio

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 0.1794. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Alliance Data Systems Corporation's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's EBITDA

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$705.5 million.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Alliance Data Systems Corporation's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation financials

Revenue TTM	USD$4.9 billion
Operating margin TTM	11.94%
Gross profit TTM	USD$1.3 billion
Return on assets TTM	1.51%
Return on equity TTM	23.56%
Profit margin	6.14%
Book value	$27.727
Market capitalisation	USD$3.2 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares

There are currently 1.8 million Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares held short by investors – that's known as Alliance Data Systems Corporation's "short interest". This figure is 25.4% up from 1.5 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares can be evaluated.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares traded daily (recently around 1.2 million). Alliance Data Systems Corporation's SIR currently stands at 1.56. In other words for every 100,000 Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares traded daily on the market, roughly 1560 shares are currently held short.

However Alliance Data Systems Corporation's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares, or, against the total number of tradable Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Alliance Data Systems Corporation's short interest could be expressed as 0.04% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares in existence, roughly 40 shares are currently held short) or 0.0441% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares, roughly 44 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Alliance Data Systems Corporation.

Find out more about how you can short Alliance Data Systems Corporation stock.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Alliance Data Systems Corporation.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 16.19

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Alliance Data Systems Corporation's overall score of 16.19 (as at 01/01/2019) is excellent – landing it in it in the 14th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Alliance Data Systems Corporation is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's environmental score

Environmental score: 3.12/100

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's environmental score of 3.12 puts it squarely in the 4th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Alliance Data Systems Corporation is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's social score

Social score: 14.21/100

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's social score of 14.21 puts it squarely in the 4th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Alliance Data Systems Corporation is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's governance score

Governance score: 6.37/100

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's governance score puts it squarely in the 4th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Alliance Data Systems Corporation is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Alliance Data Systems Corporation was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	16.19
Total ESG percentile	14.32
Environmental score	3.12
Environmental score percentile	4
Social score	14.21
Social score percentile	4
Governance score	6.37
Governance score percentile	4

Alliance Data Systems Corporation share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 12.38% of net profits

Recently Alliance Data Systems Corporation has paid out, on average, around 12.38% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 1.26% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Alliance Data Systems Corporation shareholders could enjoy a 1.26% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Alliance Data Systems Corporation's case, that would currently equate to about $0.84 per share.

While Alliance Data Systems Corporation's payout ratio might seem low, this can signify that Alliance Data Systems Corporation is investing more in its future growth.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's most recent dividend payout was on 18 December 2020. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 12 November 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Alliance Data Systems Corporation's shares ever split?

Alliance Data Systems Corporation's shares were split on a 1:4 basis on 6 June 2006. So if you had owned 4 shares the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 1 share. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 300% higher share price could have impacted the market appetite for Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares which in turn could have impacted Alliance Data Systems Corporation's share price.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Alliance Data Systems Corporation's shares have ranged in value from as little as $20.2524 up to $113.4802. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Alliance Data Systems Corporation's is 2.4154. This would suggest that Alliance Data Systems Corporation's shares are significantly more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent a higher risk.

Alliance Data Systems Corporation overview

Alliance Data Systems Corporation provides data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and others. It operates through two segments, LoyaltyOne and Card Services. The LoyaltyOne segment offers AIR MILES reward program; short term loyalty program; and loyalty services, which include loyalty consulting, customer analytics, creative services, and mobile solutions. The Card Services segment provides receivable financing services comprising underwriting and risk management; processing services, such as new account processing, bill processing, remittance processing, and customer care; and marketing services to private label and co-brand retail credit card programs. The company captures and analyzes data created during each customer interaction, leveraging the insight derived from that data to enable clients to identify and acquire new customers and to enhance customer loyalty. It serves clients across various end-markets, including financial services, specialty retail, grocery and drugstore chains, petroleum retail, home furnishing and hardware, beauty and jewelry, hospitality and travel, and telecommunications. Alliance Data Systems Corporation was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Alliance Data Systems Corporation is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 3.158% of Alliance Data Systems Corporation shares are held by insiders and 87.142% by institutions.

• How many people work for Alliance Data Systems Corporation?

  Latest data suggests 8,500 work at Alliance Data Systems Corporation.

• When does the fiscal year end for Alliance Data Systems Corporation?

  Alliance Data Systems Corporation's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Alliance Data Systems Corporation based?

  Alliance Data Systems Corporation's address is: 3075 Loyalty Circle, Columbus, OH, United States, 43219

• What is Alliance Data Systems Corporation's ISIN number?

  Alliance Data Systems Corporation's international securities identification number is: US0185811082

• What is Alliance Data Systems Corporation's CUSIP number?

  Alliance Data Systems Corporation's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 018581108