Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Sezzle has been downgraded from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a more cautious outlook on the stock's performance.
• Despite the downgrade, some analysts remain positive; B. Riley has raised its price target for Sezzle from $101.00 to $111.00, while Oppenheimer increased theirs from $168.00 to $202.00.
• Sezzle recently reported earnings of $0.69 per share for the quarter, exceeding expectations, but its revenue of $60.31 million fell short of the estimated $93.33 million.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on SEZL. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Sezzle from $168.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Sezzle from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sezzle has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $124.33.

Sezzle Trading Down 5.9%

NASDAQ:SEZL traded down $5.5150 on Friday, reaching $87.7150. 877,625 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,059,119. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08 and a beta of 9.09. Sezzle has a 52-week low of $19.89 and a 52-week high of $186.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $141.55 and a 200-day moving average of $87.36. The company has a quick ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 3.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $60.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.33 million. Sezzle had a return on equity of 102.90% and a net margin of 28.13%. As a group, analysts expect that Sezzle will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sezzle

In other Sezzle news, CFO Karen Hartje sold 5,484 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.02, for a total value of $921,421.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 126,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,312,664.92. This trade represents a 4.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul Paradis sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.21, for a total transaction of $264,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 245,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,611,450. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 80,696 shares of company stock valued at $11,817,465 over the last 90 days. 49.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sezzle

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SEZL. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Sezzle by 518.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 38,960 shares of the company's stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 32,656 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Sezzle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $311,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Sezzle during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $747,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Sezzle by 937.0% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 15,420 shares of the company's stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 13,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Sezzle by 649.1% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 19,146 shares of the company's stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 16,590 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.02% of the company's stock.

Sezzle Company Profile

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.