Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) Trading Up 4.9% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL) rose 4.9% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $32.18 and last traded at $30.12. Approximately 410,630 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 926,099 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SEZL has been the subject of several research reports. Northland Securities increased their price objective 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 reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $62.83 target price (up previously from $62.00) on shares of Sezzle in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Sezzle Trading Up 25.4 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.76. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 8.73.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $271.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.90 million. Sezzle had a net margin of 25.29% and a return on equity of 101.18%. Analysts anticipate that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sezzle announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Karen Hartje sold 20,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.72, for a total value of $1,093,518.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 210,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,109,474.72. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 57.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SEZL. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sezzle by 191.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,474,000 after acquiring an additional 13,383 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Sezzle by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,613,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Sezzle by 295.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $679,000 after acquiring an additional 2,974 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Sezzle by 125.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 2,512 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Sezzle during the third quarter worth about $276,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.