Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) Short Interest Up 8.0% in January

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 52,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,423,437.20. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.61, for a total transaction of $5,547,344.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 90,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 a total of 82,910 shares of company stock worth $8,780,102 in the last ninety days. 10.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Euronet Worldwide

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EEFT. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the 2nd quarter worth $541,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Euronet Worldwide in the second quarter worth about $200,000. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 606,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $60,166,000 after acquiring an additional 47,469 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Euronet Worldwide during the third quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 20.8% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 2,820 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EEFT. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.14.

Euronet Worldwide Price Performance

EEFT traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $97.71. 19,291 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 209,261. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $101.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.43. Euronet Worldwide has a 1-year low of $91.07 and a 1-year high of $117.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

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.