Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Hits New 12-Month Low After Earnings Miss

Shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as low as $64.73 and last traded at $64.4650, with a volume of 221513 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.82.

The company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $1.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 40.19% and a net margin of 5.02%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 61.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FOUR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $124.00 to $114.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Shift4 Payments from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James J. Whalen sold 794 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.89, for a total value of $71,372.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 56,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,062,964.36. This represents a 1.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David Taylor Lauber sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.59, for a total value of $221,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 285,588 shares in the company, valued at $25,300,240.92. This trade represents a 0.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 25.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 6,665,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,612,000 after purchasing an additional 745,650 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in Shift4 Payments by 16.4% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 6,338,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,215,000 after buying an additional 890,990 shares during the period. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP lifted its position in Shift4 Payments by 4.2% during the second quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 4,966,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $492,220,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,056,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,139,000 after buying an additional 419,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,505,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,253,000 after buying an additional 214,627 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a current ratio of 1.38. The business’s 50-day moving average is $79.06 and its 200-day moving average is $88.29. The company has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.71.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments, Inc (NYSE FOUR) provides integrated payment processing and technology solutions in the United States. Its payments platform provides omni-channel card acceptance and processing solutions, including end-to-end payment processing for various payment types; merchant acquiring; proprietary omni-channel gateway; complementary software integrations; integrated and mobile point-of-sale (POS) solutions; security and risk management solutions; and reporting and analytical tools, as well as tokenization, risk management/underwriting, payment device and chargeback management, fraud prevention, and gift card solutions.