Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $230.11, but opened at $235.21. Sezzle shares last traded at $240.79, with a volume of 12,351 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on SEZL. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $377.00 price target (up previously from $372.00) on shares of Sezzle in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Northland Securities boosted their price target on Sezzle from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

Sezzle Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 2.40. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10 and a beta of 9.05. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $257.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $255.45.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $4.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $1.31. The business had revenue of $271.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.90 million. Sezzle had a return on equity of 101.18% and a net margin of 25.29%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sezzle announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Karen Hartje sold 3,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.32, for a total transaction of $1,093,518.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 35,121 shares in the company, valued at $11,109,474.72. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 57.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sezzle

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Sezzle by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Sezzle by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 2,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Sezzle in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sezzle in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Sezzle by 3,575.0% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 2.02% of the company’s stock.

About Sezzle

Sezzle Inc operates as a technology-enabled payments company primarily in the United States and Canada. The company provides payment solution in-store and at online retail stores; and through proprietary payments solution that connects consumers with merchants. It also offers Sezzle Platform that provides a payments solution for consumers that extends credit at the point-of-sale allowing consumers to purchase and receive the ordered merchandise at the time of sale while paying in installments over time; Pay-in-Four, which allows consumers to pay a fourth of the purchase price up front and then another fourth of the purchase price every two weeks thereafter over a total of six weeks; Pay-in-Full that allows consumers to pay for the full value of their order up-front through the Sezzle Platform without the extension of credit; and Pay-in-Two and other alternative installment options, which allow consumer to pay half of the value of their order up-front and the second half in two weeks.