ACI Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIW) Receives $47.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of ACI Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIW) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.50.

ACIW has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on ACI Worldwide from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of ACI Worldwide in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded ACI Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of ACI Worldwide from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

ACI Worldwide Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ACIW opened at $50.33 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $46.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. ACI Worldwide has a 1 year low of $19.56 and a 1 year high of $50.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 37.51 and a beta of 1.19.

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.24. ACI Worldwide had a net margin of 12.01% and a return on equity of 19.18%. The firm had revenue of $373.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $349.95 million. Analysts predict that ACI Worldwide will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

ACI Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ACI Worldwide

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACIW. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in ACI Worldwide by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,263,249 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,655,000 after acquiring an additional 29,673 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of ACI Worldwide by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,220,072 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $129,134,000 after purchasing an additional 57,538 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ACI Worldwide by 39.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 601,632 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $18,410,000 after purchasing an additional 171,258 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in ACI Worldwide during the 4th quarter worth approximately $600,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in ACI Worldwide during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,509,000. 94.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ACI Worldwide Company Profile

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.