Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Consensus "Hold": Shift4 has a consensus Hold from 23 analysts (1 sell, 10 hold, 12 buy) with an average 1‑year price target of $72.76, and several firms have recently cut targets or downgraded the stock.
• Insider buying: Major shareholder Jared Isaacman bought 43,827 shares at $45.75 on March 10, raising his holding to 1,410,727 shares; insiders purchased 385,757 shares (~$17.7M) in the past three months and now own 25.15% of the company.
• Recent results and outlook: Shift4 reported EPS of $1.60 (vs. $1.56 expected) but revenue of $610M missed a $1.20B consensus, revenue was up 50.6% year‑over‑year, and the company set FY2026 EPS guidance of 5.50–5.70; valuation metrics include a $3.69B market cap, PE of 43.3 and a debt/equity of 4.66.

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-three ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.7619.

FOUR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Shift4 Payments from $115.00 to $101.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Shift4 Payments from $72.00 to $60.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Shift4 Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $100.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Shift4 Payments from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $71.00 target price on Shift4 Payments in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th.

Insider Activity

In other Shift4 Payments news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman bought 43,827 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $45.75 per share, for a total transaction of $2,005,085.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,410,727 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,540,760.25. This trade represents a 3.21% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders bought a total of 385,757 shares of company stock worth $17,666,153 in the last three months. Company insiders own 25.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Shift4 Payments

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 100.0% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 434 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 148.1% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 526 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the third quarter worth about $45,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 282.2% during the third quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 646 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

NYSE FOUR opened at $45.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 43.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66. The business's fifty day moving average is $47.66 and its 200 day moving average is $60.51. Shift4 Payments has a fifty-two week low of $39.90 and a fifty-two week high of $108.50.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $610.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 39.27% and a net margin of 2.84%.Shift4 Payments's quarterly revenue was up 50.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.500-5.700 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Shift4 Payments will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments is a U.S.-based provider of integrated payment processing and technology solutions, serving merchants across the hospitality, retail, e-commerce, gaming and lodging industries. The company's platform enables businesses to accept in-store, online and mobile payments through a combination of point-of-sale hardware, payment gateway services and back-office software. By centralizing transaction processing and reporting, Shift4 aims to simplify payments, enhance security and streamline operations for its merchant customers.

The company's core offerings include encrypted point-of-sale terminals, cloud-based payment gateways, and developer-friendly APIs for online and mobile checkouts.

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