Insider Selling: EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Insider Sells $1,043,100.00 in Stock

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) insider Ellen Bryant sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.77, for a total value of $1,043,100.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 117,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,095,419.22. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

EZCORP Price Performance

NASDAQ:EZPW opened at $34.41 on Friday. EZCORP, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.31 and a 52 week high of $37.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 3.45, a current ratio of 4.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $408.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $425.83 million. EZCORP had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 9.97%. Equities analysts expect that EZCORP, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of EZCORP from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on shares of EZCORP from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $44.00 target price on shares of EZCORP in a report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on EZCORP from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.80.

Institutional Trading of EZCORP

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EZPW. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of EZCORP in the second quarter valued at approximately $270,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 3,013.1% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,201,763 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $76,115,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131,038 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in EZCORP during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $90,000. Triumph Capital Management increased its stake in EZCORP by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 14,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the period. Finally, Navellier & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in EZCORP by 203.0% during the 2nd quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 65,347 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,259,000 after buying an additional 43,780 shares in the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.