EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Director Sells $355,400.00 in Stock

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.54, for a total value of $355,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 207,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,376,078.22. This represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Pablo Lagos Espinosa also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, June 5th, Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of EZCORP stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $320,000.00.

EZCORP Stock Performance

Shares of EZPW stock remained flat at $34.07 on Friday. 970,805 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,084,207. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 3.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.61. EZCORP, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.07 and a fifty-two week high of $37.13. The company has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52 and a beta of 0.64.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last issued 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. The business 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, research analysts forecast that EZCORP, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EZPW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on EZCORP from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp raised their price target on EZCORP from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EZCORP presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EZCORP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP boosted its stake in EZCORP by 39.5% in the third quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 138,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,637,000 after buying an additional 39,195 shares in the last quarter. Miller Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EZCORP in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,451,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 163.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 483,211 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,200,000 after purchasing an additional 299,920 shares during the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc acquired a new position in EZCORP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,939,000. Finally, Harbour Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in EZCORP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,207,000. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.