Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.23 EPS

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.23), Zacks reports. Euronet Worldwide had a return on equity of 26.86% and a net margin of 8.49%.

Euronet Worldwide Price Performance

Shares of EEFT traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $104.64. The stock had a trading volume of 215,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 292,874. The business has a fifty day moving average of $100.80 and a 200 day moving average of $100.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.43. Euronet Worldwide has a 12 month low of $91.07 and a 12 month high of $117.66.

Insider Activity at Euronet Worldwide

In other news, CEO Kevin J. Caponecchi sold 52,034 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,603.68. This trade represents a 36.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Martin L. Bruckner sold 9,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.31, for a total value of $1,008,392.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,290,575.73. This represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 82,910 shares of company stock worth $8,780,102. 10.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EEFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Euronet Worldwide presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.00.

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.