Short Interest in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) Rises By 5.2%

Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,210,000 shares, a growth of 5.2% from the November 15th total of 1,150,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 277,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EEFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $136.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup lowered shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Euronet Worldwide from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $127.13.

Euronet Worldwide Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ EEFT opened at $106.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.44. Euronet Worldwide has a 1-year low of $91.07 and a 1-year high of $117.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.62.

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

Insider Activity

In other Euronet Worldwide news, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.56, for a total transaction of $2,224,365.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 52,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,423,437.20. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was 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 $9,625,603.68. The trade was a 36.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,910 shares of company stock valued at $8,780,102 in the last ninety days. 10.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 18,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 6.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,674 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,540,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

About Euronet Worldwide

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.