Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL) gapped down before the market opened 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have 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 report on Thursday, December 19th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $62.83 price target (up from $62.00) on shares of Sezzle in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Sezzle Trading Down 11.3 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $42.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.64. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $971.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 8.70.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) last released 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 return on equity of 101.18% and a net margin of 25.29%. The company had revenue of $271.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.90 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sezzle declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Karen Hartje sold 20,742 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 57.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sezzle

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Sezzle by 1,406.4% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 2,405 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in Sezzle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $691,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Sezzle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,762,000. Washington Harbour Partners LP acquired a new position in Sezzle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $396,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in Sezzle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $436,000. 2.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sezzle

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.