Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $66.17, but opened at $68.08. Sezzle shares last traded at $72.9480, with a volume of 406,482 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Sezzle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Sezzle in a report on Thursday, September 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Sezzle in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Sezzle in a report on Thursday, September 11th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sezzle in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.00.

Sezzle Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.15 and a beta of 8.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 3.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.88.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Sezzle had a net margin of 27.66% and a return on equity of 90.06%. The business had revenue of $40.84 million for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Sezzle news, Director Kyle M. Brehm acquired 1,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $57.50 per share, with a total value of $69,977.50. Following the purchase, the director owned 24,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,387,417.50. The trade was a 5.31% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen Hartje sold 5,484 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total transaction of $466,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 116,053 shares in the company, valued at $9,864,505. This trade represents a 4.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 49.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sezzle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SEZL. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Sezzle by 64.7% during the third quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 1,494,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,867,000 after buying an additional 587,129 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sezzle by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,016,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,864,000 after purchasing an additional 46,760 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Sezzle by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 439,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,842,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Sezzle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $71,770,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Sezzle by 5.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 355,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,677,000 after purchasing an additional 19,706 shares during the period. 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.