EVERTEC (NYSE:EVTC) Upgraded to “Neutral” at Susquehanna

Susquehanna upgraded shares of EVERTEC (NYSE:EVTC) from a negative rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $30.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $28.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on EVTC. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of EVERTEC in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley raised EVERTEC from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.67.

EVERTEC Stock Performance

Shares of EVTC stock opened at $37.50 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.70. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. EVERTEC has a 12-month low of $28.76 and a 12-month high of $41.32.

EVERTEC Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. EVERTEC’s payout ratio is 11.56%.

Insider Activity at EVERTEC

In other EVERTEC news, EVP Daniel Brignardello sold 3,842 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $138,312.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,169,316. This represents a 10.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Joaquin A. Castrillo-Salgado sold 48,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.08, for a total transaction of $1,748,184.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 54,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,984,327.84. The trade was a 46.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,308 shares of company stock valued at $2,440,112 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EVERTEC

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of EVERTEC by 4,525.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 740 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of EVERTEC during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of EVERTEC by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of EVERTEC by 199.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of EVERTEC during the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. 96.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About EVERTEC

EVERTEC, Inc engages in transaction processing business and financial technology in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company operates through four segments: Payment Services – Puerto Rico & Caribbean; Latin America Payments and Solutions; Merchant Acquiring; and Business Solutions. It provides merchant acquiring services, which enable point of sales and e-commerce merchants to accept and process electronic methods of payment, such as debit, credit, prepaid, and electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards.