Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $136.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.25.

Euronet Worldwide Trading Down 0.3 %

EEFT opened at $99.52 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.38. Euronet Worldwide has a 12 month low of $91.07 and a 12 month high of $117.66.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Martin L. Bruckner sold 9,397 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.31, for a total transaction of $1,008,392.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,290,575.73. This represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $5,547,344.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,603.68. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 82,910 shares of company stock valued at $8,780,102 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 10.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Euronet Worldwide

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 121.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 954 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide during the 3rd quarter valued at $100,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 21.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the third quarter worth about $109,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,191 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.