Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL) Short Interest Down 17.3% in May

Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,770,000 shares, a decrease of 17.3% from the April 30th total of 3,350,000 shares. Currently, 16.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Sezzle Trading Up 5.0%

SEZL stock traded up $5.73 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $119.79. 856,615 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 801,052. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $63.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.25. Sezzle has a 1 year low of $11.50 and a 1 year high of $120.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 8.41.

Sezzle announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Sezzle

In other Sezzle news, COO Amin Sabzivand sold 9,854 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.73, for a total value of $1,061,571.42. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 244,074 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,294,092.02. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul Paradis sold 18,000 shares of Sezzle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,350,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 315,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,625,000. This represents a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 441,396 shares of company stock worth $34,037,893 over the last quarter. Insiders own 49.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Sezzle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Sezzle by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,304 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,613,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Sezzle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $311,000. Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sezzle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,423,000. Swiss National Bank bought a new stake in Sezzle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,407,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Sezzle by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,647 shares of the company's stock worth $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SEZL shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sezzle from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $62.83 price target (up from $62.00) on shares of Sezzle in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

About Sezzle

Sezzle Inc operates as a technology-enabled payments company primarily in the United States and Canada. The company provides payment solution in-store and at online retail stores; and through proprietary payments solution that connects consumers with merchants. It also offers Sezzle Platform that provides a payments solution for consumers that extends credit at the point-of-sale allowing consumers to purchase and receive the ordered merchandise at the time of sale while paying in installments over time; Pay-in-Four, which allows consumers to pay a fourth of the purchase price up front and then another fourth of the purchase price every two weeks thereafter over a total of six weeks; Pay-in-Full that allows consumers to pay for the full value of their order up-front through the Sezzle Platform without the extension of credit; and Pay-in-Two and other alternative installment options, which allow consumer to pay half of the value of their order up-front and the second half in two weeks.