Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) by 13.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,064,233 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 127,240 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Euronet Worldwide were worth $105,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 1.1% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,260,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,674 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,540,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 3.6% in the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Euronet Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EEFT opened at $105.29 on Tuesday. Euronet Worldwide, Inc. has a one year low of $87.85 and a one year high of $117.66. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $100.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.31.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Euronet Worldwide had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 26.86%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Euronet Worldwide, Inc. will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Martin L. Bruckner sold 9,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.31, for a total value of $1,008,392.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,983 shares in the company, valued at $4,290,575.73. The trade was a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 sold a total of 65,431 shares of company stock worth $6,966,057 over the last three months. 10.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EEFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $136.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. 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 note on Friday, October 18th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Euronet Worldwide from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Euronet Worldwide from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Euronet Worldwide has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.13.

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.