Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $32.34, but opened at $28.56. Sezzle shares last traded at $27.58, with a volume of 180,454 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SEZL. Northland Securities raised their price target on shares of Sezzle from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $62.83 target price (up previously from $62.00) on shares of Sezzle in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Sezzle Stock Performance

The business's fifty day moving average price is $41.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 8.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 2.40.

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

Sezzle declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sezzle news, CFO Karen Hartje sold 20,742 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.72, for a total value of $1,093,518.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 210,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,109,474.72. This trade represents a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 57.65% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sezzle

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SEZL. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Sezzle by 191.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,474,000 after purchasing an additional 13,383 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sezzle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $274,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Sezzle by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 49,362 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Sezzle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $292,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Sezzle by 125.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 2,512 shares in the last quarter. 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.