Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position in PagSeguro Digital Ltd. $PAGS

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group cut its PagSeguro Digital stake by 17.8% in the first quarter, selling 215,811 shares and leaving it with 994,414 shares worth about $9.96 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on PagSeguro Digital is cautious: analysts now have a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $10.98 after several recent downgrades and target cuts.
• The company’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, with earnings per share of $0.39 versus $0.40 expected and revenue of $642.01 million, while the stock recently traded near $9.21.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE:PAGS - Free Report) by 17.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 994,414 shares of the company's stock after selling 215,811 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.30% of PagSeguro Digital worth $9,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of PagSeguro Digital by 108.2% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 6,610,914 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,729,000 after acquiring an additional 3,435,211 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PagSeguro Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,011,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in PagSeguro Digital by 5,302.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,156,848 shares of the company's stock worth $21,568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,925 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd purchased a new stake in PagSeguro Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $20,106,000. Finally, Jain Global LLC acquired a new stake in PagSeguro Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $17,424,000. 45.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAGS has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on PagSeguro Digital from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group decreased their target price on PagSeguro Digital from $14.00 to $12.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Autonomous Res lowered PagSeguro Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America downgraded PagSeguro Digital from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $10.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on PagSeguro Digital in a research report on Thursday. They set a "hold" rating and a $10.40 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.98.

PagSeguro Digital Stock Performance

PagSeguro Digital stock opened at $9.21 on Friday. PagSeguro Digital Ltd. has a one year low of $7.74 and a one year high of $12.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.32.

PagSeguro Digital (NYSE:PAGS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.01). PagSeguro Digital had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 16.44%. The firm had revenue of $642.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $952.64 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PagSeguro Digital Ltd. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

About PagSeguro Digital

PagSeguro Digital Ltd. is a Brazil-based financial technology company that specializes in digital payment solutions for merchants and consumers. Through its online platform and a suite of physical point-of-sale devices, the company enables businesses of all sizes to accept credit and debit cards, process e-commerce transactions, and manage payments via QR codes and digital wallets. In addition to payment acceptance, PagSeguro offers prepaid accounts, funds transfers, and working-capital credit lines designed to support small and medium-sized enterprises.

The company's product portfolio includes portable card readers, countertop terminals, and mobile point-of-sale devices that connect via Bluetooth or cellular networks.

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