Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $125.38.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $136.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Euronet Worldwide Price Performance

Shares of EEFT stock opened at $101.62 on Thursday. Euronet Worldwide has a twelve month low of $84.40 and a twelve month high of $117.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.93. The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 1.46.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Euronet Worldwide had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 26.86%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Euronet Worldwide will post 7.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Juan Bianchi sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.58, for a total transaction of $410,320.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,440 shares in the company, valued at $1,276,095.20. This represents a 24.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 10.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Euronet Worldwide

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,356,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $333,039,000 after buying an additional 27,254 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 1.2% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,390,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $152,900,000 after acquiring an additional 15,837 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 13.6% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,064,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $105,604,000 after purchasing an additional 127,240 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 1.4% in the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,022,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,793,000 after purchasing an additional 14,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 1.4% during the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 767,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $79,415,000 after purchasing an additional 10,689 shares during the period. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Euronet Worldwide

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.