StockNews.com Downgrades Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) to Hold

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on EEFT. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup cut Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $118.00 to $110.00 in a 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. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $136.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.25.

Euronet Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of Euronet Worldwide stock opened at $105.74 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $102.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Euronet Worldwide has a 1-year low of $91.07 and a 1-year high of $117.66.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Euronet Worldwide had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 8.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Euronet Worldwide will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.56, for a total value of $2,224,365.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,423,437.20. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of Euronet Worldwide stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 90,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,603.68. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 82,910 shares of company stock worth $8,780,102. Corporate insiders own 10.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Euronet Worldwide

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,356,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $333,039,000 after buying an additional 27,254 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $105,604,000 after acquiring an additional 127,240 shares during the period. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,022,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,793,000 after purchasing an additional 14,090 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 767,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,415,000 after acquiring an additional 10,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 worth $78,172,000 after purchasing an additional 113,685 shares in the last quarter. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.