Lesaka Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSAK) Short Interest Up 22.1% in September

Lesaka Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSAK) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 60,800 shares, an increase of 22.1% from the August 31st total of 49,800 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 23,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lesaka Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hosking Partners LLP increased its stake in Lesaka Technologies by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 1,641,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,157,000 after purchasing an additional 59,594 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Lesaka Technologies by 3.7% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 87,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 3,137 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in Lesaka Technologies by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 1,272,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,955,000 after purchasing an additional 636,166 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lesaka Technologies by 8.8% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 182,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 14,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 24.19% of the company’s stock.

Lesaka Technologies Price Performance

Shares of LSAK traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $5.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,930. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Lesaka Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $3.00 and a fifty-two week high of $5.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $318 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.16 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.56.

Lesaka Technologies (NASDAQ:LSAK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 11th. The company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $146.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.30 million. Lesaka Technologies had a negative return on equity of 9.90% and a negative net margin of 3.09%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Lesaka Technologies will post -0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Lesaka Technologies

Lesaka Technologies, Inc operates as a Fintech company that utilizes its proprietary banking and payment technologies to deliver financial services solutions to merchants (B2B) and consumers (B2C) in Southern Africa. It offers cash management solutions, growth capital, card acquiring, bill payment technologies, and value-added services to formal and informal retail merchants, as well as banking, lending, and insurance solutions to consumers across Southern Africa.