Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $136.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup cut shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Three equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.25.

Euronet Worldwide Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of EEFT traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $99.52. The stock had a trading volume of 180,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 234,857. Euronet Worldwide has a 52-week low of $91.07 and a 52-week high of $117.66. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $102.97 and its 200 day moving average is $101.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Euronet Worldwide will post 7.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Euronet Worldwide

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Euronet Worldwide

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 45.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,539 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $71,102,000 after purchasing an additional 224,982 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the 3rd quarter valued at about $15,258,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Euronet Worldwide by 17.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 755,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,172,000 after purchasing an additional 113,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Euronet Worldwide in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,047,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.