ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

ACI Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIW) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $54.52 and last traded at $54.29, with a volume of 511011 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $52.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ACIW shares. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of ACI Worldwide in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ACI Worldwide from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised ACI Worldwide from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered ACI Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

ACI Worldwide Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.37. The company has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.52 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.16. ACI Worldwide had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 11.51%.The company had revenue of $425.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. ACI Worldwide’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ACI Worldwide, Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ACI Worldwide

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of ACI Worldwide by 79.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,659,385 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $509,726,000 after buying an additional 4,280,684 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in ACI Worldwide by 879.8% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,430,404 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $75,482,000 after buying an additional 1,284,419 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of ACI Worldwide during the 4th quarter valued at $54,735,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of ACI Worldwide by 90.3% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,816,588 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $86,851,000 after acquiring an additional 861,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, London Co. of Virginia increased its stake in shares of ACI Worldwide by 91.0% in the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,732,941 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $91,448,000 after acquiring an additional 825,671 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

ACI Worldwide Company Profile

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) is a global software company that provides electronic payment and banking solutions to financial institutions, merchants and billers. The company’s platforms enable real-time processing of credit, debit, ACH, bill payments, faster payments and money transfers, as well as integrated fraud prevention services. Headquartered in Naples, Florida, ACI serves clients across banking, payments and commerce sectors worldwide.

ACI’s modular suite of applications can be deployed on-premise, in the cloud or in hybrid environments to meet diverse operational needs.