Payments Stocks Slip A Bit Into The Red

Stocks moved to the downside this past week as the markets got ready for earnings season in earnest. Only a few names showed gains, and only one of them, MoneyGram International, notched gains of more than 1 percent. As has been noted, there has been an ongoing battle between Ant Financial and Euronet to acquire MoneyGram, where the stakes have just been raised. As of Monday morning (April 17), Ant Financial had boosted its bid by more than 30 percent, to $18 a share, in cash, compared to the $15.20 offered by Euronet.

Trailing MoneyGram’s rise was Worldpay, which was roughly flat on the week. The company was reiterated as a “buy” at Goldman Sachs.

It was declining issues that moved the needle for payments stocks this time around, as USA Technologies sank more than 5 percent, and the only attendant company news came as Sneaker Syndicate launched self-serve amusement kiosks that let customers win sneakers using USA Technologies’ ePort Connect cashless payment systems.

Everi Holdings gave back gains (losing 5.1 percent) notched earlier in the week when the company said it would seek to refinance some of its debt to lower its cash interest expenses going forward.

And Alliance Data Systems also trailed for the week, off the same amount, at 5.1 percent, after Oppenheimer Holdings, in initiating the company with an “underperform rating” and a $185 price target said that competitive advantage is diminishing for the firm even as it seeks to move beyond its card business.