Wall Street Zen Upgrades Paymentus (NYSE:PAY) to Buy

Paymentus (NYSE:PAY) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

PAY has been the topic of several other reports. Freedom Broker upgraded Paymentus to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Paymentus from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Paymentus from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wolfe Research downgraded Paymentus from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Yorkville Ives began coverage on Paymentus in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.86.

Paymentus Stock Performance

Shares of PAY opened at $33.49 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.88 and a beta of 1.35. Paymentus has a one year low of $20.11 and a one year high of $45.31.

Paymentus (NYSE:PAY) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The business services provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.04. Paymentus had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 16.14%. The business had revenue of $372.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Paymentus will post 0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Paymentus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PAY. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Paymentus by 42.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 835,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,227,000 after purchasing an additional 248,514 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Paymentus by 77.1% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 64,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,629,000 after purchasing an additional 27,921 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Paymentus by 155.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 349,993 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,890,000 after purchasing an additional 212,778 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in shares of Paymentus in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,008,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paymentus by 83.8% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 72,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 33,278 shares during the period. 78.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Paymentus Company Profile

Paymentus Holdings, Inc provides cloud-based billing and payment technology for businesses and public-sector organizations. Its platform helps billers present bills, accept and process payments, and communicate with customers through digital and other payment channels.

The company serves organizations in sectors such as utilities, financial services, government, healthcare, insurance, and telecommunications. Its services support multiple payment methods and are designed to integrate with clients’ billing and customer-management systems.

Founded in 2004, Paymentus is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and serves clients primarily in the United States and Canada.