PagSeguro Digital (NYSE:PAGS) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Shares of PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE:PAGS) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $8.16, but opened at $8.53. PagSeguro Digital shares last traded at $8.27, with a volume of 2,399,801 shares.

The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.05. PagSeguro Digital had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 11.12%. The company had revenue of $875.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $872.66 million.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PAGS. Susquehanna lowered their price target on PagSeguro Digital from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of PagSeguro Digital in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $7.00 price objective (down from $17.00) on shares of PagSeguro Digital in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on PagSeguro Digital from $16.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on PagSeguro Digital from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.18.

Institutional Trading of PagSeguro Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sylebra Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of PagSeguro Digital by 53.0% in the fourth quarter. Sylebra Capital LLC now owns 12,143,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,020,000 after buying an additional 4,208,192 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of PagSeguro Digital by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 6,353,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,770,000 after buying an additional 874,777 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PagSeguro Digital by 870.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 6,271,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,259,000 after buying an additional 5,625,121 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of PagSeguro Digital by 50.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,908,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,868,000 after buying an additional 1,990,849 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of PagSeguro Digital by 307.4% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,459,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,917,000 after buying an additional 3,364,926 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.88% of the company’s stock.

PagSeguro Digital Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $6.96 and a 200-day moving average of $8.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 6.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.95.

About PagSeguro Digital

PagSeguro Digital Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides financial technology solutions and services for consumers, individual entrepreneurs, micro-merchants, and small and medium-sized companies in Brazil and internationally. The company's products and services include PagSeguro Ecosystem, a digital ecosystem that operates as a closed loop where its clients are able to address their primary day to day financial needs, including receiving and spending funds, and managing and growing their businesses; PagBank digital account, which offers payment and banking services through the PagBank mobile app, as well as centralizes various cash-in options, functionalities, services, and cash-out options in a single ecosystem; and PlugPag, a tool for medium-sized and larger merchants that enables them to connect their point of sale (POS) device directly to their enterprise resource planning software or sales automation system through Bluetooth.