Short Interest in Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL) Grows By 413.6%

Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,280,000 shares, an increase of 413.6% from the March 15th total of 443,900 shares. Currently, 15.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 951,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Sezzle Trading Up 4.8 %

Sezzle stock traded up $2.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.80. The company had a trading volume of 773,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 735,802. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 2.40. Sezzle has a 12-month low of $6.73 and a 12-month high of $79.59. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 8.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.27.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.22. Sezzle had a net margin of 25.29% and a return on equity of 101.18%. The company had revenue of $271.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.90 million. Equities analysts forecast that Sezzle will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sezzle announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sezzle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Sezzle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sezzle in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Sezzle by 3,575.0% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 147 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sezzle during the 4th quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Sezzle during the 4th quarter valued at about $84,000. Institutional investors own 2.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Northland Securities lifted their price objective on Sezzle from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $62.83 price target (up previously from $62.00) on shares of Sezzle in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

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.