Short Interest in Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Expands By 6.6%

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) was the target of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,070,000 shares, an increase of 6.6% from the March 31st total of 7,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FOUR opened at $57.91 on Thursday. Shift4 Payments has a 12 month low of $42.91 and a 12 month high of $92.30. The stock has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.78, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $70.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $269.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $278.85 million. Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 27.35% and a net margin of 3.36%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Shift4 Payments will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on FOUR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $60.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Shift4 Payments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David Taylor Lauber sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.15, for a total value of $1,202,250.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 243,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,546,982. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 32.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HMS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 5.4% in the first quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC now owns 3,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Shift4 Payments by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 5,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Shift4 Payments by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Shift4 Payments by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 8,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Shift4 Payments by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 7,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

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.