Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.23 EPS

Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.23), Zacks reports. Euronet Worldwide had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 26.86%.

Euronet Worldwide Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ EEFT traded up $1.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $105.03. The company had a trading volume of 229,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 293,281. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.43. Euronet Worldwide has a 12-month low of $91.07 and a 12-month high of $117.66.

Insider Transactions at Euronet Worldwide

In related news, 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 transaction of $1,008,392.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,290,575.73. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Nikos Fountas sold 21,479 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were 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 directly owns 52,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,423,437.20. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 82,910 shares of company stock valued at $8,780,102 over the last three months. 10.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EEFT. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Euronet Worldwide in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Euronet Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $118.00 to $110.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Euronet Worldwide currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.