First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 30,705 Shares of EVERTEC, Inc. (NYSE:EVTC)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in EVERTEC, Inc. (NYSE:EVTC - Free Report) by 181.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,598 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 30,705 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.07% of EVERTEC worth $1,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EVTC. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of EVERTEC by 385.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 115,398 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,910,000 after buying an additional 91,632 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in EVERTEC by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 337,776 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,447,000 after acquiring an additional 33,462 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. grew its position in EVERTEC by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 40,000 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of EVERTEC by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,269 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of EVERTEC by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,174 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. 96.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EVERTEC Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EVTC traded up $0.15 on Friday, hitting $35.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 523,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 382,867. The company has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. EVERTEC, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.76 and a 12 month high of $38.32. The stock's 50-day moving average is $35.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.42.

EVERTEC (NYSE:EVTC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $228.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $217.97 million. EVERTEC had a net margin of 10.20% and a return on equity of 33.01%. EVERTEC's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that EVERTEC, Inc. will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

EVERTEC Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. EVERTEC's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on EVTC. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of EVERTEC from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna upgraded EVERTEC from a "negative" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of EVERTEC from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of EVERTEC in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Paola Perez-Surillo sold 14,585 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.15, for a total value of $541,832.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,203 shares in the company, valued at $1,307,791.45. This represents a 29.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Morgan M. Schuessler sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.45, for a total value of $2,996,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 282,172 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,567,341.40. This represents a 22.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,170 shares of company stock worth $7,149,206. 0.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About EVERTEC

EVERTEC, Inc engages in transaction processing business and financial technology in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company operates through four segments: Payment Services - Puerto Rico & Caribbean; Latin America Payments and Solutions; Merchant Acquiring; and Business Solutions. It provides merchant acquiring services, which enable point of sales and e-commerce merchants to accept and process electronic methods of payment, such as debit, credit, prepaid, and electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards.