Nuveen LLC Makes New Investment in Sezzle Inc. $SEZL

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC invested approximately $1.38 million in Sezzle Inc., purchasing 39,660 shares, which represents about 0.12% of the company.
• Other institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc., significantly increased their holdings in Sezzle, with Vanguard's stake growing by 497.6%.
• In the latest earnings announcement, Sezzle reported $0.69 earnings per share, beating expectations, although revenue of $60.31 million fell short of analyst estimates.

Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 39,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,384,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.12% of Sezzle at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SEZL. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Sezzle by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,320 shares of the company's stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Sezzle by 94.7% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 407 shares of the company's stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Sezzle by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,002 shares of the company's stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in Sezzle during the fourth quarter worth about $136,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Sezzle by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,377 shares of the company's stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.02% of the company's stock.

Sezzle Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of SEZL traded up $0.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $85.85. 767,839 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,206,133. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.42 and a beta of 9.02. Sezzle Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.04 and a fifty-two week high of $186.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a current ratio of 3.51. The stock's 50-day moving average is $126.23 and its 200-day moving average is $91.01.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $60.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.33 million. Sezzle had a net margin of 28.13% and a return on equity of 102.90%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sezzle Inc. will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sezzle

In related news, COO Amin Sabzivand sold 6,028 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.23, for a total value of $989,978.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 243,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,957,651.69. This trade represents a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul Paradis sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.62, for a total transaction of $274,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 242,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,172,040. This trade represents a 1.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 67,012 shares of company stock valued at $10,266,978 over the last 90 days. 49.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on SEZL shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Sezzle from $168.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Sezzle from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sezzle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $124.33.

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.