Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Trading Up 8.5% – Here’s Why

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR)’s share price shot up 8.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $47.98 and last traded at $47.6380. 374,173 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 1,981,192 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FOUR shares. Raymond James Financial set a $51.00 target price on Shift4 Payments in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $46.00 price target on Shift4 Payments in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Capital One Financial set a $50.00 price objective on Shift4 Payments in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Shift4 Payments from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.10.

Shift4 Payments Stock Down 5.6%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.40.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $615.65 million. Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 2.20% and a return on equity of 28.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 50.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.150-5.350 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Shift4 Payments by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Shift4 Payments by 18.8% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in Shift4 Payments by 29.6% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 5,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,235 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments during the second quarter worth approximately $249,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 4.4% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments is a U.S.-based provider of integrated payment processing and technology solutions, serving merchants across the hospitality, retail, e-commerce, gaming and lodging industries. The company’s platform enables businesses to accept in-store, online and mobile payments through a combination of point-of-sale hardware, payment gateway services and back-office software. By centralizing transaction processing and reporting, Shift4 aims to simplify payments, enhance security and streamline operations for its merchant customers.

The company’s core offerings include encrypted point-of-sale terminals, cloud-based payment gateways, and developer-friendly APIs for online and mobile checkouts.