EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Lowered to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on EZPW. Weiss Ratings raised EZCORP from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Citizens Jmp raised their target price on shares of EZCORP from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised EZCORP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $44.00 target price on shares of EZCORP in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

EZCORP Trading Down 2.3%

NASDAQ:EZPW opened at $32.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 3.52. EZCORP has a fifty-two week low of $13.07 and a fifty-two week high of $37.13. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 0.63.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.22. EZCORP had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 9.91%.The company had revenue of $434.90 million during the quarter. Sell-side analysts expect that EZCORP will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at EZCORP

In related news, Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $320,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 217,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,961,376. This trade represents a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jason A. Kulas sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total value of $671,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 172,948 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,804,134.88. This represents a 10.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of EZCORP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EZPW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 11.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,610,029 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $68,735,000 after acquiring an additional 369,817 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in EZCORP by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,563,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $69,209,000 after buying an additional 84,566 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,167,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $61,518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,622 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,321,138 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,217,000 after buying an additional 118,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in EZCORP by 28.5% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,975,421 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $37,612,000 after acquiring an additional 437,601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

EZCORP Company Profile

EZCORP, Inc is a specialty consumer finance company that provides pawn loans and retail merchandise programs primarily through its EZPAWN and Cash Converters brands. The company offers collateral-based loans secured principally by jewelry, electronics, musical instruments and other personal items, alongside check-cashing, money-transfer and bill-payment services. In addition to its pawn lending operations, EZCORP acquires previously pawned or consumer merchandise for resale through its “Sell-It-Now” platform and retail storefronts.

Founded in 1989 and headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, EZCORP operates in two principal geographic markets: the United States and Mexico.