Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) Stock Price Up 12.6% Following Earnings Beat

Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL)’s share price rose 12.6% on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $342.61 and last traded at $328.16. Approximately 126,117 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average daily volume of 145,707 shares. The stock had previously closed at $291.44.

The company reported $4.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $1.31. Sezzle had a return on equity of 101.18% and a net margin of 25.29%. The company had revenue of $271.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.90 million.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Northland Securities raised their target price on Sezzle from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $377.00 target price (up from $372.00) on shares of Sezzle in a research report on Wednesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kyle M. Brehm acquired 110 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $360.00 per share, with a total value of $39,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,338,480. This represents a 3.05 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen Hartje sold 3,457 shares of Sezzle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.32, for a total value of $1,093,518.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 35,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,109,474.72. The trade was a 8.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 57.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sezzle by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 169,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,387,000 after buying an additional 3,853 shares in the last quarter. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sezzle by 275.9% during the 4th quarter. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC now owns 102,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,141,000 after buying an additional 75,007 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Sezzle by 792.3% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 79,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,460,000 after buying an additional 71,019 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 1,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sezzle by 172.7% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 27,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,008,000 after buying an additional 17,351 shares in the last quarter. 2.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sezzle Trading Up 5.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 2.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 32.58 and a beta of 9.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $263.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $242.85.

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.