CPI Card Group Inc. (NASDAQ:PMTS) Short Interest Down 27.4% in December

CPI Card Group Inc. (NASDAQ:PMTS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 74,300 shares, a decline of 27.4% from the November 30th total of 102,300 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 37,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

CPI Card Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PMTS traded down $1.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.90. The company had a trading volume of 17,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,068. CPI Card Group has a one year low of $15.00 and a one year high of $35.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $28.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.60. The company has a market capitalization of $355.97 million, a PE ratio of 24.35 and a beta of 1.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director H Sanford Riley purchased 2,000 shares of CPI Card Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.51 per share, for a total transaction of $65,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $308,845. This trade represents a 26.67 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Equity Ulc Parallel49 sold 1,380,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $28,980,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,813,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,093,517. This trade represents a 22.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CPI Card Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vector Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of CPI Card Group by 77.7% in the second quarter. Vector Capital Management L.P. now owns 248,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,778,000 after buying an additional 108,756 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of CPI Card Group by 31.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 23,979 shares of the company's stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 5,783 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of CPI Card Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $205,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in CPI Card Group by 182.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,281 shares of the company's stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 3,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in CPI Card Group by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 6,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 1,555 shares during the last quarter. 22.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PMTS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Lake Street Capital upped their price target on CPI Card Group from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of CPI Card Group in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $37.67.

About CPI Card Group

CPI Card Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, production, data personalization, packaging, and fulfillment of financial payment cards. It operates through Debit and Credit, and Prepaid Debit segments. The Debit and Credit segment produces financial payment cards and provides integrated card services to card-issuing financial institutions.