Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) Short Interest Update

Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,350,000 shares, an increase of 8.0% from the December 15th total of 1,250,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 263,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.1 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Euronet Worldwide Price Performance

EEFT opened at $99.52 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $102.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.38. Euronet Worldwide has a twelve month low of $91.07 and a twelve month high of $117.66.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Euronet Worldwide had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 26.86%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Euronet Worldwide will post 7.85 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup lowered shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $136.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Euronet Worldwide news, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.56, for a total transaction of $2,224,365.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,370 shares in the company, valued at $5,423,437.20. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 82,910 shares of company stock valued at $8,780,102 over the last ninety days. 10.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Euronet Worldwide

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EEFT. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 45.8% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 716,539 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,102,000 after purchasing an additional 224,982 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the third quarter valued at approximately $15,258,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 17.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 755,190 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $78,172,000 after acquiring an additional 113,685 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,047,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

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.