Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Raised to "Hold" at BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets upgraded Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) to a Hold, and the stock's consensus rating is currently an average Hold with an average price target of $72.76 after several recent analyst target cuts.
• Shift4 posted quarterly EPS of $1.60 (beating the $1.56 estimate), reported revenue up 50.6% year-over-year to $610 million, and set FY2026 guidance of $5.50–$5.70 in EPS.
• Major shareholder Jared Isaacman bought 159,244 shares at about $44.15, part of insiders acquiring 385,757 shares in the past 90 days, leaving insiders with roughly 25.15% ownership of the company.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Shift4 Payments from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Shift4 Payments from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $81.00 to $56.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $77.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $102.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Shift4 Payments presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.76.

Shift4 Payments Stock Performance

Shares of FOUR stock opened at $51.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.78, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.66. The firm's 50 day moving average is $48.02 and its 200 day moving average is $60.84. Shift4 Payments has a 12 month low of $39.90 and a 12 month high of $108.50.

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

Insider Activity at Shift4 Payments

In other Shift4 Payments news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman bought 159,244 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $44.15 per share, with a total value of $7,030,622.60. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 1,321,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,331,289.05. This trade represents a 13.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 385,757 shares of company stock worth $17,666,153. 25.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 434 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 148.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 526 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Vestcor Inc bought a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments during the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Summer Road LLC bought a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company's stock.

Shift4 Payments Company Profile

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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