Shift4 Payments’ (FOUR) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at B. Riley Financial

B. Riley Financial reissued their buy rating on shares of Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $77.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $94.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on FOUR. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Shift4 Payments from $59.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $46.00 price target on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Shift4 Payments from $63.00 to $56.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.86.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

Shares of FOUR traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $43.88. The company had a trading volume of 3,625,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,817,075. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.59, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.50. Shift4 Payments has a twelve month low of $34.56 and a twelve month high of $75.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.31 and its 200-day moving average is $45.97.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.13. Shift4 Payments had a return on equity of 28.40% and a net margin of 2.20%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $652.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. Shift4 Payments’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.050-5.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Shift4 Payments will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Shift4 Payments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Spyglass Capital Management LLC raised its position in Shift4 Payments by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Spyglass Capital Management LLC now owns 1,833,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,196,000 after purchasing an additional 82,663 shares during the last quarter. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its position in Shift4 Payments by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 913,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,058,000 after buying an additional 178,734 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 847,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,071,000 after buying an additional 183,938 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 55.5% in the 1st quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 445,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,490,000 after buying an additional 159,000 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Shift4 Payments by 5.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 151,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,645,000 after acquiring an additional 7,214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Shift4 Payments

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

• Positive Sentiment: Shift4 reported third-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.49, above the roughly $1.36 consensus, while revenue grew 10% year over year. The company also raised its 2026 EPS outlook to $5.05–$5.15, above the cited $4.98 consensus. Earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: The company authorized a $1 billion share buyback, which could support per-share results and signal confidence in the business. Buyback announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Shift4 outlined mid- to high-single-digit organic growth for 2027 and a fourth-quarter gross revenue less network fees outlook of $625 million–$640 million. Investors will weigh that growth outlook against the company’s longer-term expectations. Growth outlook
• Negative Sentiment: The earnings beat did not prevent a sharp selloff: reports said third-quarter sales missed expectations, raising concern about growth and overshadowing stronger EPS and guidance. Sales and stock reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Several firms cut their price targets on FOUR, including RBC ($67 to $49), Wells Fargo ($59 to $46), Susquehanna ($63 to $56), and B. Riley ($94 to $77). Their ratings remained positive or bullish, but the broad reductions suggest more cautious assumptions about upside. RBC rating

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments, Inc (NYSE: FOUR) is a payment technology company that provides integrated commerce solutions for businesses and organizations. Its platform supports payment acceptance across in-person, online and mobile channels, combining payment processing with point-of-sale, commerce management and reporting tools.

The company serves merchants and enterprises in industries including restaurants, hospitality, hotels, sports and entertainment venues, gaming, retail and e-commerce. Its offerings include payment gateways, point-of-sale systems, mobile and contactless payment capabilities, fraud prevention, chargeback management and business analytics.