Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

Priority Technology (NASDAQ:PRTH) announced its earnings results on Monday. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $249.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $242.87 million. Priority Technology had a negative return on equity of 66.50% and a net margin of 5.84%.

Here are the key takeaways from Priority Technology’s conference call:

• Strong Q1 results — revenue of $249.6M (+11%), adjusted gross profit $98.8M (+13%), adjusted EBITDA $58.1M (+13%) and adjusted EPS $0.28 (+27%).
• Payables and Treasury drove growth — Payables revenue +35.6% and Treasury +17.5%, together accounting for ~63% of adjusted gross profit and increasing the share of recurring, higher-value revenue.
• Margin mix pressures — Payables gross margin declined ~210 bps and Treasury margins ~370 bps due to mix shifts, lower-margin acquisitions and GAAP gross-vs-net recognition effects that could weigh on segment margins.
• Balance sheet and guidance maintained — $1.02B debt, ~$192M liquidity, net leverage ~4.0x (improved from 4.2x), $28M free cash flow in Q1, and full-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance reaffirmed.
• Merchant solutions mixed — merchant revenue up 6.7% and card volume +2.5%, but average merchant accounts edged down and some verticals (restaurants, construction, legal) remain soft while real estate and retail showed strength.

Priority Technology Stock Up 4.4%

PRTH stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $5.87. 561,719 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 291,399. Priority Technology has a 1-year low of $4.44 and a 1-year high of $8.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $5.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.58. The firm has a market cap of $483.45 million, a PE ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 1.49.

Institutional Trading of Priority Technology

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Steamboat Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Priority Technology by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Steamboat Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,576,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,593,000 after buying an additional 187,893 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Priority Technology by 13.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,487,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,222,000 after purchasing an additional 181,795 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Priority Technology by 1,912.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 711,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,876,000 after purchasing an additional 675,803 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Priority Technology by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 660,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 53,317 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Priority Technology by 70.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 573,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,461,000 after purchasing an additional 237,004 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Priority Technology from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Priority Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. TD Securities lowered their price objective on Priority Technology from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Priority Technology from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Priority Technology in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.75.

Priority Technology Company Profile

Priority Technology Acquisition Corp is a special purpose acquisition company formed to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization or similar business combination with one or more businesses in the technology sector. As a blank-check company, it does not conduct any operations of its own and holds the proceeds from its initial public offering in a trust account pending the identification and completion of a business combination.

The company’s management team is focused on evaluating target businesses that offer scalable technology products or services, including software, digital platforms and related infrastructure.