Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Euronet Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:EEFT - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,210,000 shares, a growth of 5.2% from the November 15th total of 1,150,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 277,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Euronet Worldwide Trading Up 3.0 %

Euronet Worldwide stock traded up $3.10 during trading on Monday, reaching $106.56. 347,506 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 297,660. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $101.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $102.62. The company has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a PEG 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. Euronet Worldwide has a 52-week low of $91.07 and a 52-week high of $117.66.

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.11. Euronet Worldwide had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Euronet Worldwide will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Euronet Worldwide

In other Euronet Worldwide news, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.56, for a total transaction of $2,224,365.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 52,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,423,437.20. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Martin L. Bruckner sold 9,397 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,290,575.73. The trade was a 19.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 82,910 shares of company stock valued at $8,780,102. 10.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EEFT. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 0.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 18,074 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Euronet Worldwide by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,176 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Euronet Worldwide by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Euronet Worldwide by 0.6% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,674 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,540,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Euronet Worldwide by 3.6% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,903 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EEFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Euronet Worldwide from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $136.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Euronet Worldwide from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Euronet Worldwide from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $127.13.

Euronet Worldwide Company Profile

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.