Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Sezzle Inc. (NASDAQ:SEZL - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $175.47 and last traded at $178.95, with a volume of 136693 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $165.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SEZL shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Sezzle from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Sezzle from $168.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $108.28.

Sezzle Stock Up 5.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.62. The company has a market capitalization of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.78 and a beta of 9.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $109.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.14.

Sezzle declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Sezzle

In other Sezzle news, CFO Karen Hartje sold 311,196 shares of Sezzle stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.83, for a total value of $22,353,208.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 154,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,080,926.78. The trade was a 66.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Amin Sabzivand sold 18,000 shares of Sezzle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.31, for a total value of $2,831,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 243,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,273,994.93. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 489,608 shares of company stock valued at $41,660,224 in the last ninety days. 49.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sezzle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Sezzle by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,304 shares of the company's stock worth $1,613,000 after buying an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Sezzle in the 4th quarter valued at about $311,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Sezzle by 649.1% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 19,146 shares of the company's stock valued at $668,000 after purchasing an additional 16,590 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sezzle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,407,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Sezzle by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.