Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $204.12, but opened at $213.68. Sezzle shares last traded at $215.31, with a volume of 23,362 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SEZL shares. Northland Securities raised their price target on Sezzle from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $377.00 target price (up previously from $372.00) on shares of Sezzle in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Sezzle Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.25 and a beta of 9.09. The company’s fifty day moving average is $261.43 and its 200 day moving average is $251.56.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $4.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $1.31. Sezzle had a return on equity of 101.18% and a net margin of 25.29%. The firm had revenue of $271.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.90 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sezzle declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Karen Hartje sold 3,457 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.32, for a total value of $1,093,518.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 35,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,109,474.72. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 57.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sezzle

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Sezzle in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sezzle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sezzle by 3,575.0% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Sezzle during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sezzle in the fourth quarter worth $80,000. Institutional investors own 2.02% of the company’s stock.

Sezzle Company Profile

Sezzle Inc operates as a technology-enabled payments company primarily in the United States and Canada. The company provides payment solution in-store and at online retail stores; and through proprietary payments solution that connects consumers with merchants. It also offers Sezzle Platform that provides a payments solution for consumers that extends credit at the point-of-sale allowing consumers to purchase and receive the ordered merchandise at the time of sale while paying in installments over time; Pay-in-Four, which allows consumers to pay a fourth of the purchase price up front and then another fourth of the purchase price every two weeks thereafter over a total of six weeks; Pay-in-Full that allows consumers to pay for the full value of their order up-front through the Sezzle Platform without the extension of credit; and Pay-in-Two and other alternative installment options, which allow consumer to pay half of the value of their order up-front and the second half in two weeks.