EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Trading Up 6.5% – Here’s Why

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW)’s stock price shot up 6.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $33.12 and last traded at $33.5580. Approximately 90,025 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 871,768 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EZPW shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded EZCORP from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised EZCORP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research raised EZCORP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a report on Monday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

EZCORP Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.31. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96 and a beta of 0.63.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last announced 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 company had revenue of $434.90 million for the quarter. EZCORP had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 9.91%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that EZCORP, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at EZCORP

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

Institutional Trading of EZCORP

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in EZCORP by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,167,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $61,518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,622 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in shares of EZCORP by 70.2% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,063,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $14,764,000 after purchasing an additional 438,542 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,975,421 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $37,612,000 after buying an additional 437,601 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 89.2% in 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. raised its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 11.4% in 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. 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.