Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRTH) Short Interest Up 28.0% in March

Key Points

• Short interest surged 28% in March to 2,237,520 shares for Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH), equal to about 8.0% of shares short and a days-to-cover ratio of 8.5, signaling elevated short-seller activity.
• The company missed March-quarter EPS ($0.27 vs. $0.29 expected) and reported revenue slightly below estimates, while analysts remain mixed with a consensus "Hold" rating and an average target of $8.75.
• Shares trade around $5.00 with a market cap of about $411 million, a trailing PE of 7.25, and a 52-week range of $4.44–$8.89.

Priority Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRTH - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,237,520 shares, a growth of 28.0% from the March 15th total of 1,748,485 shares. Currently, 8.0% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 264,733 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.5 days.

Priority Technology Price Performance

NASDAQ:PRTH opened at $5.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $411.45 million, a PE ratio of 7.25 and a beta of 1.51. Priority Technology has a fifty-two week low of $4.44 and a fifty-two week high of $8.89. The stock's 50-day moving average is $5.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.77.

Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $247.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $247.92 million. Priority Technology had a net margin of 5.84% and a negative return on equity of 66.50%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Priority Technology will post -0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Priority Technology

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steamboat Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Priority Technology by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Steamboat Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,576,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,593,000 after buying an additional 187,893 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Priority Technology by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,487,948 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,222,000 after buying an additional 181,795 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Priority Technology by 1,912.7% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 711,136 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,876,000 after buying an additional 675,803 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Priority Technology by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 660,518 shares of the company's stock worth $3,601,000 after acquiring an additional 53,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norwood Investment Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Priority Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $3,433,000. 11.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on PRTH. TD Securities lowered their target price on Priority Technology from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Priority Technology in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research cut Priority Technology from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Priority Technology from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Priority Technology from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Priority Technology currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $8.75.

About Priority Technology

Priority Technology Acquisition Corp is a special purpose acquisition company formed to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization or similar business combination with one or more businesses in the technology sector. As a blank-check company, it does not conduct any operations of its own and holds the proceeds from its initial public offering in a trust account pending the identification and completion of a business combination.

The company’s management team is focused on evaluating target businesses that offer scalable technology products or services, including software, digital platforms and related infrastructure.

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