SG Americas Securities LLC Has $1.04 Million Position in EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 88.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,063 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,304 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned approximately 0.07% of EZCORP worth $1,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EZPW. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of EZCORP by 47.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in EZCORP by 70.2% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,063,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $14,764,000 after buying an additional 438,542 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in EZCORP by 28.5% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,975,421 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,612,000 after buying an additional 437,601 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 89.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 785,131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,247,000 after buying an additional 370,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,610,029 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $68,735,000 after buying an additional 369,817 shares in the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on EZPW. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $44.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of EZCORP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

Insider Activity

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

EZCORP Price Performance

EZCORP stock opened at $35.59 on Friday. EZCORP, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.07 and a 1-year high of $37.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $32.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.11. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $434.90 million during the quarter. EZCORP had a net margin of 9.91% and a return on equity of 13.45%. On average, equities research analysts predict that EZCORP, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About EZCORP

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.