Ingalls & Snyder LLC Boosts Stake in EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW

Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its stake in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 46.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,262 shares during the quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in EZCORP were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EZPW. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of EZCORP by 6.7% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 60,614 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $901,000 after acquiring an additional 3,792 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in EZCORP by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,338 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after purchasing an additional 8,451 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of EZCORP during the 2nd quarter worth about $168,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 80,099 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 3,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Almanack Investment Partners LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of EZCORP during the second quarter worth about $476,000. 99.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on EZCORP from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

Insider Activity at EZCORP

In other news, Director Matthew W. Appel sold 9,038 shares of EZCORP stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.02, for a total value of $162,864.76. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 133,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,345.42. The trade was a 6.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

EZCORP Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ EZPW opened at $18.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 5.00, a current ratio of 6.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.63 and a 200-day moving average of $15.49. EZCORP, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.09 and a 52-week high of $19.44.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.10. EZCORP had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 7.96%.The firm had revenue of $310.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $302.25 million. On average, analysts anticipate that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 EPS 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.