Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) Stock Price Up 7.2% – Here’s Why

Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL)’s share price rose 7.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $273.58 and last traded at $262.93. Approximately 42,533 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 119,801 shares. The stock had previously closed at $245.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SEZL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $372.00 target price (up previously from $353.00) on shares of Sezzle in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Northland Securities boosted their target price on shares of Sezzle from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Sezzle Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $273.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 2.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.45 and a beta of 9.58.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $2.03. Sezzle had a net margin of 25.29% and a return on equity of 101.18%. The business had revenue of $69.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sezzle news, CFO Karen Hartje sold 3,457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.32, for a total transaction of $1,093,518.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 35,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,109,474.72. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul Paradis sold 4,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $400.00, for a total value of $1,610,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 68,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,538,400. The trade was a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,164 shares of company stock valued at $4,303,725 over the last quarter. 57.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Sezzle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 2,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Sezzle during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Sezzle by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Sezzle in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sezzle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.02% of the company’s stock.

About Sezzle

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.