Short Interest in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Grows By 9.2%

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,410,000 shares, a growth of 9.2% from the September 15th total of 7,700,000 shares. Approximately 16.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 488,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 17.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EZCORP

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in EZCORP during the third quarter worth $32,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of EZCORP by 169.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,736 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 2,976 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EZCORP in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $71,000. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in EZCORP by 640.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 11,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 9,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in EZCORP by 63.9% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,412 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 4,451 shares during the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of EZCORP in a report on Friday, October 4th.

EZCORP Stock Performance

EZPW stock traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $11.80. 312,332 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 517,357. EZCORP has a twelve month low of $7.70 and a twelve month high of $12.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $648.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 1.02.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.01. EZCORP had a return on equity of 10.64% and a net margin of 6.87%. The company had revenue of $281.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $281.69 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that EZCORP will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

EZCORP Company Profile

EZCORP, Inc provides pawn services in the United States and Latin America. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Pawn, Latin America Pawn, and Other Investments. The company offers pawn loans collateralized by tangible personal property, jewelry, consumer electronics, tools, sporting goods, and musical instruments.