goeasy (TSE:GSY) Shares Up 14.3% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• goeasy shares jumped 14.3% on Friday to C$40.04 (from C$35.02), trading as high as C$40.27 with volume up about 75% to 478,281 shares.
• Analysts have been trimming ratings toward "Hold," and the MarketBeat consensus rating is Hold with a consensus price target of C$180.33.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.46 (annualized yield ~15%) while showing low P/E (2.84) but high leverage (debt-to-equity 383.82) and a market cap of C$624.7M, signaling both strong income and balance-sheet risk.

goeasy Ltd. (TSE:GSY - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 14.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as C$40.27 and last traded at C$40.04. 478,281 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 75% from the average session volume of 273,711 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$35.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GSY shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded goeasy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets downgraded goeasy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank decreased their target price on goeasy from C$225.00 to C$210.00 in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of goeasy from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from C$208.00 to C$153.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, ATB Cormark Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of goeasy from C$200.00 to C$185.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$180.33.

goeasy Trading Up 11.3%

The company has a current ratio of 42.83, a quick ratio of 28.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 383.82. The company has a market capitalization of C$624.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.84, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$119.30 and a 200-day moving average of C$145.14.

goeasy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were given a dividend of $1.46 per share. This represents a $5.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 24th. goeasy's payout ratio is presently 40.48%.

About goeasy

goeasy Ltd provides financial services to own furniture, electronics, computers, and appliances. It offers merchandise leasing of household furnishings, appliances, and home electronic products to consumers under weekly or monthly leasing agreements. The company also offers unsecured installment loans to consumers. Its reportable business segments include easyhome and easyfinancial, of which it derives maximum revenue from easyfinancial segment.

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