Short Interest in Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRTH) Rises By 40.0%

Key Points

• Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. experienced a substantial increase in short interest, rising by 40% in August, bringing the total short interest to 1,890,000 shares.
• Equities research analysts have upgraded Priority Technology's stock rating, with Zacks Research and Wall Street Zen both moving it to a "buy" rating, while the consensus price target is set at $13.00.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.26, exceeding analysts' estimates, and had a revenue of $239.81 million for the quarter.

Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRTH - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,890,000 shares, a growth of 40.0% from the July 31st total of 1,350,000 shares. Currently, 7.5% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 570,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days. Based on an average trading volume of 570,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days. Currently, 7.5% of the company's stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Priority Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of Priority Technology by 312.1% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 115,942 shares of the company's stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 87,806 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its stake in shares of Priority Technology by 34.4% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 45,208 shares of the company's stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 11,582 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Priority Technology during the second quarter valued at $463,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of Priority Technology during the second quarter valued at $223,000. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Priority Technology by 41.1% during the second quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 126,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 36,793 shares during the period. 11.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Priority Technology Stock Down 1.2%

PRTH stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $7.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 347,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,941. Priority Technology has a 12 month low of $5.01 and a 12 month high of $12.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $7.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $602.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 1.64.

Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $239.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.63 million. Priority Technology had a net margin of 4.03% and a negative return on equity of 47.35%. Priority Technology has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Priority Technology will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PRTH. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Priority Technology in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised Priority Technology from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Priority Technology from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.00.

About Priority Technology

Priority Technology Holdings, Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMB) Payments, Business-To-Business (B2B) Payments, and Enterprise Payments. It offers SMB payments processing solutions for B2C transactions through independent sales organizations, financial institutions, independent software vendors, and other referral partners through its MX product suite, which includes MX Connect and MX Merchant products, such as MX Insights, MX Storefront, MX Retail, MX Invoice, MX B2B and ACH.com, and others, which provides flexible and customizable set of business applications that helps to manage critical business work functions and revenue performance to resellers and merchant clients using core payment processing.