Freestone Grove Partners LP Makes New Investment in EVERTEC, Inc. (NYSE:EVTC)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of EVERTEC, Inc. (NYSE:EVTC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $565,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EVTC. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in EVERTEC during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,416,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in EVERTEC by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,542,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $329,489,000 after purchasing an additional 427,859 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in EVERTEC during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,568,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in EVERTEC during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,356,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in EVERTEC by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,647,000 after buying an additional 144,336 shares during the last quarter. 96.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at EVERTEC

In other EVERTEC news, EVP Paola Perez-Surillo sold 14,585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.15, for a total value of $541,832.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,307,791.45. This trade represents a 29.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Morgan M. Schuessler sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.45, for a total transaction of $2,996,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 282,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,341.40. The trade was a 22.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,170 shares of company stock worth $7,149,206. Insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on EVTC. Susquehanna upgraded shares of EVERTEC from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $28.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of EVERTEC in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

EVERTEC Stock Performance

Shares of EVTC stock opened at $34.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.36. EVERTEC, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.76 and a 52 week high of $38.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.02.

EVERTEC Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. EVERTEC’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.56%.

EVERTEC Profile

EVERTEC, Inc engages in transaction processing business and financial technology in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company operates through four segments: Payment Services – Puerto Rico & Caribbean; Latin America Payments and Solutions; Merchant Acquiring; and Business Solutions. It provides merchant acquiring services, which enable point of sales and e-commerce merchants to accept and process electronic methods of payment, such as debit, credit, prepaid, and electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards.