Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) Short Interest Up 8.5% in September

Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 927,300 shares, an increase of 8.5% from the August 31st total of 854,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 369,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Juan Bianchi sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.58, for a total transaction of $410,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,276,095.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas A. Mcdonnell bought 3,206 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $93.86 per share, for a total transaction of $300,915.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 90,000 shares in the company, valued at $8,447,400. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Juan Bianchi sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.58, for a total transaction of $410,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,276,095.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 10.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Euronet Worldwide

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ophir Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide during the 4th quarter valued at $31,186,000. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 67.8% in the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 746,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $75,770,000 after purchasing an additional 301,771 shares in the last quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Euronet Worldwide in the 4th quarter worth about $23,728,000. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 579,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,797,000 after purchasing an additional 196,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 6,250.4% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 141,932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,602,000 after buying an additional 139,697 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Euronet Worldwide Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Euronet Worldwide stock traded down $0.44 on Tuesday, reaching $98.79. 265,676 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 306,344. Euronet Worldwide has a fifty-two week low of $73.84 and a fifty-two week high of $117.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.39 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $100.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.59.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The business services provider reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.21. Euronet Worldwide had a net margin of 7.46% and a return on equity of 27.81%. The company had revenue of $986.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Euronet Worldwide will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EEFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Euronet Worldwide has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.33.

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.