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

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.82 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 Stock Up 5.0 %

NASDAQ EEFT traded up $5.24 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $109.88. 545,151 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 313,382. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $100.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.91. The stock has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.43. Euronet Worldwide has a 1 year low of $91.07 and a 1 year high of $117.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Insider Activity

In other Euronet Worldwide news, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,423,437.20. This trade 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 business's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 82,910 shares of company stock worth $8,780,102. 10.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on EEFT. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Euronet Worldwide from $135.00 to $128.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Euronet Worldwide from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Euronet Worldwide from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $127.00.

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.