Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $38.61, but opened at $41.15. Sezzle shares last traded at $39.15, with a volume of 195,374 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SEZL. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $62.83 price target (up previously from $62.00) on shares of Sezzle in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Northland Securities boosted their price target on shares of Sezzle from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

Sezzle Stock Up 7.7 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.04. The company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 8.73. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.22. Sezzle had a return on equity of 101.18% and a net margin of 25.29%. The firm had revenue of $271.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.90 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sezzle announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Sezzle

In other news, CFO Karen Hartje sold 20,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.72, for a total value of $1,093,518.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 210,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,109,474.72. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 57.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SEZL. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC boosted its stake in Sezzle by 275.9% during the 4th quarter. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC now owns 102,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,141,000 after purchasing an additional 75,007 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Sezzle by 792.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 79,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,460,000 after buying an additional 71,019 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Sezzle by 912.8% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 21,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,397,000 after acquiring an additional 19,014 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Sezzle by 172.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 27,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,008,000 after acquiring an additional 17,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Sezzle by 649.1% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 19,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 16,590 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.02% of the company’s stock.

Sezzle Company Profile

Sezzle Inc operates as a technology-enabled payments company primarily in the United States and Canada. The company provides payment solution in-store and at online retail stores; and through proprietary payments solution that connects consumers with merchants. It also offers Sezzle Platform that provides a payments solution for consumers that extends credit at the point-of-sale allowing consumers to purchase and receive the ordered merchandise at the time of sale while paying in installments over time; Pay-in-Four, which allows consumers to pay a fourth of the purchase price up front and then another fourth of the purchase price every two weeks thereafter over a total of six weeks; Pay-in-Full that allows consumers to pay for the full value of their order up-front through the Sezzle Platform without the extension of credit; and Pay-in-Two and other alternative installment options, which allow consumer to pay half of the value of their order up-front and the second half in two weeks.