Short Interest in Lesaka Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSAK) Rises By 54.3%

Lesaka Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSAK) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 266,261 shares, a growth of 54.3% from the February 26th total of 172,560 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 68,725 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Lesaka Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of LSAK stock opened at $4.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $411.21 million, a P/E ratio of -7.78 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $4.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.40. Lesaka Technologies has a twelve month low of $3.39 and a twelve month high of $5.54.

Lesaka Technologies (NASDAQ:LSAK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.04. Lesaka Technologies had a negative return on equity of 28.23% and a negative net margin of 7.87%.The business had revenue of $93.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $166.00 million. Equities analysts forecast that Lesaka Technologies will post -0.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lesaka Technologies

In other news, major shareholder Finance Corp International sold 11,104 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.04, for a total transaction of $55,964.16. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,761,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,035,717.20. This trade represents a 0.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 323,011 shares of company stock valued at $1,605,227 over the last three months. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lesaka Technologies

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Lesaka Technologies by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 3,644,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,384,000 after acquiring an additional 225,000 shares during the period. Potomac Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Lesaka Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $4,766,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Lesaka Technologies by 13,359.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 141,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 140,812 shares during the period. 9823 Capital L.P. purchased a new position in Lesaka Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $94,000. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lesaka Technologies by 26.4% in the third quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 18,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 3,959 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LSAK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lesaka Technologies in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lesaka Technologies to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Lesaka Technologies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lesaka Technologies currently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

About Lesaka Technologies

Lesaka Technologies, Inc operates as a Fintech company that utilizes its proprietary banking and payment technologies to deliver financial services solutions to merchants (B2B) and consumers (B2C) in Southern Africa. It offers cash management solutions, growth capital, card acquiring, bill payment technologies, and value-added services to formal and informal retail merchants, as well as banking, lending, and insurance solutions to consumers across Southern Africa. The company also engages in the sale of POS devices, SIM cards, and other consumables; and license of rights to use certain technology developed by the company, as well as offers related technology services.