StockNews.com Upgrades Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning.

EEFT has been the subject of several other reports. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup cut shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $136.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.25.

Euronet Worldwide Trading Down 0.3 %

EEFT stock opened at $99.52 on Monday. Euronet Worldwide has a fifty-two week low of $91.07 and a fifty-two week high of $117.66. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $102.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Euronet Worldwide had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 8.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Euronet Worldwide will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Euronet Worldwide

In other Euronet Worldwide news, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $5,547,344.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,603.68. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.56, for a total value of $2,224,365.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,423,437.20. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 82,910 shares of company stock valued at $8,780,102 over the last quarter. 10.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 161,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,004,000 after acquiring an additional 8,230 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its position in Euronet Worldwide by 507.8% during the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 14,916 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,544,000 after buying an additional 12,462 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Euronet Worldwide during the 3rd quarter worth $15,258,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Euronet Worldwide in the third quarter valued at $666,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Euronet Worldwide by 117.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,402,000 after acquiring an additional 27,664 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Euronet Worldwide Company Profile

Euronet Worldwide, Inc provides payment and transaction processing and distribution solutions to financial institutions, retailers, service providers, and individual consumers worldwide. It operates through three segments: Electronic Fund Transfer Processing, epay, and Money Transfer. The Electronic Fund Transfer Processing segment provides electronic payment solutions, including automated teller machine (ATM) cash withdrawal and deposit services, ATM network participation, outsourced ATM and point-of-sale (POS) management solutions, credit and debit and prepaid card outsourcing, card issuing, and merchant acquiring services.