Paymentus Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PAY) Short Interest Up 88.2% in June

Key Points

• Short interest in Paymentus surged 88.2% in June, reaching 3.28 million shares by June 30. Roughly 10.6% of the company’s shares are now sold short, with a days-to-cover ratio of 1.6.
• The stock rose 2.0% to $29.59 in Thursday trading, and it remains above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Paymentus has a market cap of $3.72 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.92.
• Recent earnings topped expectations, with Q1 EPS of $0.21 versus the $0.17 consensus and revenue of $358.44 million, up 30.2% year over year. Analysts currently maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with a $35.20 price target.

Paymentus Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PAY - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 3,284,666 shares, an increase of 88.2% from the June 15th total of 1,745,553 shares. Approximately 10.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,011,638 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Paymentus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Paymentus by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 183,144 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,780,000 after purchasing an additional 38,731 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Paymentus by 4.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,295 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Paymentus by 4.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 243,860 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,365,000 after buying an additional 9,890 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Paymentus by 275.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 571,917 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $14,927,000 after buying an additional 419,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Paymentus by 34.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 25,668 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 6,616 shares in the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paymentus Trading Up 2.0%

PAY traded up $0.59 on Thursday, hitting $29.59. 797,410 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 808,066. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $24.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.75. Paymentus has a one year low of $20.11 and a one year high of $39.38. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.92 and a beta of 1.31.

Paymentus (NYSE:PAY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The business services provider reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.17 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $358.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.45 million. Paymentus had a return on equity of 13.75% and a net margin of 5.78%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Paymentus will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Paymentus from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Paymentus from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Paymentus from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Paymentus currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.20.

Paymentus Company Profile

Paymentus is a U.S.-based financial technology company that specializes in cloud-native bill payment and presentment solutions. Its platform enables businesses and government entities to manage the entire payment lifecycle, from electronic bill presentment and real-time payment processing to reconciliation and reporting. Through web portals, mobile applications, interactive voice response (IVR) systems and in-person channels, Paymentus helps clients streamline accounts receivable operations, enhance customer engagement and reduce operational costs.

Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, Paymentus has built a modular suite of services that can be tailored to the needs of various industries.

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