Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Trading 8.5% Higher – What’s Next?

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) shares shot up 8.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $47.98 and last traded at $47.6380. 374,173 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 1,981,192 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on FOUR shares. Capital One Financial set a $50.00 target price on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $60.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Shift4 Payments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Shift4 Payments in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $46.00 target price on Shift4 Payments in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.10.

Shift4 Payments Stock Up 4.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.66.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $615.65 million. Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 28.40% and a net margin of 2.20%.The firm’s revenue was up 50.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.150-5.350 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 4.68 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. KTF Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments in the 4th quarter worth about $4,248,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,635,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Shift4 Payments by 2,674.9% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 136,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,602,000 after purchasing an additional 131,685 shares during the period. University of Illinois Foundation increased its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. University of Illinois Foundation now owns 182,848 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,514,000 after purchasing an additional 67,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 19,626.6% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 30,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,328,000 after purchasing an additional 30,225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments is a U.S.-based provider of integrated payment processing and technology solutions, serving merchants across the hospitality, retail, e-commerce, gaming and lodging industries. The company’s platform enables businesses to accept in-store, online and mobile payments through a combination of point-of-sale hardware, payment gateway services and back-office software. By centralizing transaction processing and reporting, Shift4 aims to simplify payments, enhance security and streamline operations for its merchant customers.

The company’s core offerings include encrypted point-of-sale terminals, cloud-based payment gateways, and developer-friendly APIs for online and mobile checkouts.