ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on ACIW. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of ACI Worldwide in a report on Friday, March 15th. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on ACI Worldwide from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of ACI Worldwide in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on ACI Worldwide in a report on Friday, March 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Finally, TheStreet upgraded ACI Worldwide from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ACI Worldwide has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.00.

ACI Worldwide Price Performance

ACIW stock opened at $35.12 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. ACI Worldwide has a 52-week low of $19.56 and a 52-week high of $36.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $32.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 26.46 and a beta of 1.20.

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.17. ACI Worldwide had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 9.88%. The company had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $476.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. ACI Worldwide’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that ACI Worldwide will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in ACI Worldwide by 136.6% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,417 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its stake in ACI Worldwide by 142.9% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. bought a new position in ACI Worldwide during the 4th quarter worth $296,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in ACI Worldwide by 40.2% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,538 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 3,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in ACI Worldwide by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,998 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. 94.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About ACI Worldwide

ACI Worldwide, Inc, a software company, develops, markets, installs, and supports a range of software products and solutions for facilitating digital payments in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Banks, Merchants, and Billers. The company offers ACI Acquiring, a solution to process credit, debit, and prepaid card transactions, deliver digital innovation, and fraud prevention; ACI Issuing, a digital payment issuing solution for new payment offering; and ACI Enterprise Payments Platform that provides payment processing and orchestration capabilities for digital payments.