ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of ACI Worldwide in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of ACI Worldwide from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. TheStreet raised ACI Worldwide from a c rating to a b- rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on ACI Worldwide in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They set a buy rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Craig Hallum increased their target price on ACI Worldwide from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ACI Worldwide presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $40.00.

ACI Worldwide Trading Down 1.0 %

ACIW stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Thursday, hitting $35.12. The company had a trading volume of 596,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 596,626. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.29. ACI Worldwide has a 12 month low of $19.56 and a 12 month high of $36.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46 and a beta of 1.20.

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $477.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $476.43 million. ACI Worldwide had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 9.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that ACI Worldwide will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of ACI Worldwide

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ACI Worldwide by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,204,817 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $404,067,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,384 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of ACI Worldwide in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,509,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in ACI Worldwide by 9,610.9% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 907,098 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,757,000 after buying an additional 897,757 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in ACI Worldwide by 1,265.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 758,064 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $17,102,000 after buying an additional 702,546 shares during the period. Finally, North Reef Capital Management LP lifted its stake in ACI Worldwide by 26.3% in the third quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 2,845,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $64,183,000 after buying an additional 592,735 shares in the last quarter. 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.