Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings

Key Points

• Shift4 Payments shares gapped down significantly, opening at $93.89 after closing at $102.20, following disappointing earnings results where they missed EPS estimates by $0.10.
• The company's revenue for the quarter was $413.40 million, which was well below the consensus estimate of $967.84 million, though it represented a 28.9% increase year-over-year.
• Analyst ratings reveal a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with 14 buy ratings and a price target averaging at $117.20, despite some reductions in target prices from various firms.

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $102.20, but opened at $93.89. Shift4 Payments shares last traded at $86.22, with a volume of 1,013,987 shares trading hands.

The company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.10). Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 37.05% and a net margin of 6.11%. The firm had revenue of $413.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $967.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. Shift4 Payments's revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Benchmark raised Shift4 Payments from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Shift4 Payments from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $97.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $113.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Shift4 Payments news, CFO Nancy Disman sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.33, for a total value of $903,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 167,622 shares in the company, valued at $15,141,295.26. This represents a 5.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen Roter Davis sold 2,757 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.53, for a total transaction of $260,619.21. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $623,141.76. This trade represents a 29.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,757 shares of company stock worth $1,258,449. Company insiders own 25.15% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Shift4 Payments during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SRH Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of Shift4 Payments in the first quarter worth $27,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Shift4 Payments by 410.9% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 281 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elequin Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 297 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 98.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shift4 Payments Stock Down 2.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a PE ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.81. The company's 50 day moving average is $98.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.76.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments, Inc (NYSE FOUR) provides integrated payment processing and technology solutions in the United States. Its payments platform provides omni-channel card acceptance and processing solutions, including end-to-end payment processing for various payment types; merchant acquiring; proprietary omni-channel gateway; complementary software integrations; integrated and mobile point-of-sale (POS) solutions; security and risk management solutions; and reporting and analytical tools, as well as tokenization, risk management/underwriting, payment device and chargeback management, fraud prevention, and gift card solutions.