ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) Reaches New 52-Week High at $51.15

ACI Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIW) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $51.15 and last traded at $51.01, with a volume of 50463 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ACIW. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on ACI Worldwide from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of ACI Worldwide in a report on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of ACI Worldwide from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of ACI Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ACI Worldwide presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.50.

ACI Worldwide Stock Up 1.4 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.55. The stock has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.49 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32.

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.24. ACI Worldwide had a return on equity of 19.18% and a net margin of 12.01%. The firm had revenue of $373.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.95 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ACI Worldwide, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ACI Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to reacquire up to 8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ACI Worldwide

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of ACI Worldwide by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,204,817 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $404,067,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,384 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in ACI Worldwide by 9,610.9% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 907,098 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $27,757,000 after purchasing an additional 897,757 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC increased its stake in ACI Worldwide by 44.9% in the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 2,400,340 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $95,029,000 after purchasing an additional 743,595 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in ACI Worldwide by 228.6% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 328,600 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $13,009,000 after purchasing an additional 228,600 shares during the period. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ACI Worldwide in the second quarter worth $7,696,000. Institutional investors own 94.74% of the company’s stock.

About ACI Worldwide

ACI Worldwide, Inc, a software company, develops, markets, installs, and supports a range of software products and solutions for facilitating digital payments in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Banks, Merchants, and Billers. The company offers ACI Acquiring, a solution to process credit, debit, and prepaid card transactions, deliver digital innovation, and fraud prevention; ACI Issuing, a digital payment issuing solution for new payment offering; and ACI Enterprise Payments Platform that provides payment processing and orchestration capabilities for digital payments.