Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) Sets New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $46.26 and last traded at $48.6750, with a volume of 1380282 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.37.

Key Stories Impacting Shift4 Payments

Here are the key news stories impacting Shift4 Payments this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 EPS beat consensus — Shift4 reported $1.60 EPS vs. ~$1.56 expected, demonstrating underlying earnings strength. MarketBeat Earnings Report
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue rose year‑over‑year (~+50.6% to $610M), indicating continued top‑line expansion despite other issues. Yahoo: Q4 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Full Q4 earnings call transcript is available for detail on management’s commentary and segmentation of results; useful for investors digging into drivers. Seeking Alpha Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarter snapshot and analyst commentary pieces summarize key metrics (ROE, margins, segment notes) if you want a quick read. WTOP Earnings Snapshot
• Negative Sentiment: FY‑2026 guidance disappointed — management set EPS of $5.50–$5.70 (roughly flat to slightly below consensus) and revenue guidance of $2.5–$2.6B, materially below the ~$3.9B street expectation; this guidance shortfall is the primary negative catalyst. Seeking Alpha: Guidance Miss / 52‑Week Low
• Negative Sentiment: Reports show profits plunged (~65% in the headline coverage) and the stock hit multi‑year/52‑week lows, signaling investor concern on margins and near‑term profitability. Yahoo: Profits Plunge
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts quickly cut targets—Wells Fargo lowered its target to $55 (equal weight) and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods trimmed to $60 (market perform)—which can reinforce selling pressure. Benzinga: Wells Fargo Cut Benzinga: KBW Cut

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Freedom Capital lowered Shift4 Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Shift4 Payments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Shift4 Payments in a report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Shift4 Payments from $102.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Shift4 Payments from $112.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.74.

Shift4 Payments Trading Down 9.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.95, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.10 and a 200-day moving average of $71.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 38.24% and a net margin of 2.84%.The business’s revenue was up 50.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.500-5.700 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Shift4 Payments

In other news, Director Nancy Disman sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $347,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 130,420 shares in the company, valued at $9,064,190. This trade represents a 3.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Taylor Lauber sold 12,000 shares of Shift4 Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.00, for a total value of $828,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 273,588 shares in the company, valued at $18,877,572. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 25.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 410.9% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 281 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Shift4 Payments by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Shift4 Payments by 148.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 526 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in shares of Shift4 Payments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments is a U.S.-based provider of integrated payment processing and technology solutions, serving merchants across the hospitality, retail, e-commerce, gaming and lodging industries. The company’s platform enables businesses to accept in-store, online and mobile payments through a combination of point-of-sale hardware, payment gateway services and back-office software. By centralizing transaction processing and reporting, Shift4 aims to simplify payments, enhance security and streamline operations for its merchant customers.

The company’s core offerings include encrypted point-of-sale terminals, cloud-based payment gateways, and developer-friendly APIs for online and mobile checkouts.