ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

ACI Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACIW) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $54.52 and last traded at $54.29, with a volume of 511011 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $52.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ACIW shares. Zacks Research raised shares of ACI Worldwide from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of ACI Worldwide in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ACI Worldwide from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of ACI Worldwide from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

ACI Worldwide Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.58 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $44.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.50.

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.16. ACI Worldwide had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The company had revenue of $425.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that ACI Worldwide, Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of ACI Worldwide

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of ACI Worldwide by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,019 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in ACI Worldwide by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,096 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in ACI Worldwide by 93.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 532 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in ACI Worldwide by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,615 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in ACI Worldwide by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 20,107 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.73% of the company’s stock.

ACI Worldwide Company Profile

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW) is a global software company that provides electronic payment and banking solutions to financial institutions, merchants and billers. The company’s platforms enable real-time processing of credit, debit, ACH, bill payments, faster payments and money transfers, as well as integrated fraud prevention services. Headquartered in Naples, Florida, ACI serves clients across banking, payments and commerce sectors worldwide.

ACI’s modular suite of applications can be deployed on-premise, in the cloud or in hybrid environments to meet diverse operational needs.