Why Fair Isaac Stock Bounced Almost 3% Skyward on Wednesday

Investors were more than fair to credit analysis specialist Fair Isaac's (NYSE: FICO) stock on Wednesday. They traded it up by nearly 3%, following a bullish upgrade by an analyst. That sub-3% improvement was notably better than the S&P 500 index's performance; the closely followed index registered only a marginal gain on the day.

A move into the buy column

The pundit behind the move was RBC Capital's Ashish Sabadra, who, in the very early morning hours of Wednesday, pulled the lever on that recommendation change. Sabadra has deemed Fair Isaac worthy of an outperform (buy, in other words) rating, which is up from his previous sector perform designation. The analyst also increased his price target on the shares to $2,170 apiece from his previous $2,040.

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According to reports, Sabadra's change is due to his new view that the stock has become undervalued. He feels that the market is not taking into sufficient account the company's dominance in scoring mortgages, particularly given that this provides it with strong pricing power.

The prognosticator added that with these and other tailwinds, Fair Isaac could potentially boost its annual recurring revenue (ARR) by over 30%.

A solid and reliable performer

Sabadra also believes that Fair Isaac is quite a shareholder-friendly company, writing that its capital allocation strategy should at least somewhat mitigate fallout from negative developments.

The analyst is certainly accurate in describing the company's advantages. It's got a rather sturdy economic moat; that, plus its continued strong presence in its niche, surely makes it worthy of consideration as a buy.

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Fair Isaac. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.