EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.80.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on EZCORP from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings cut EZCORP from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th.

EZCORP Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EZPW opened at $31.16 on Friday. EZCORP has a 1 year low of $16.50 and a 1 year high of $37.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.00 and a 200-day moving average of $30.86. The company has a current ratio of 4.81, a quick ratio of 3.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74 and a beta of 0.64.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $408.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $425.83 million. EZCORP had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 9.97%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that EZCORP will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ellen H. Bryant sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.77, for a total transaction of $1,043,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 117,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,419.22. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Pablo Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.54, for a total transaction of $355,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 207,543 shares in the company, valued at $7,376,078.22. This trade represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in EZCORP by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,725 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,795,000 after buying an additional 19,708 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of EZCORP during the fourth quarter worth $1,561,000. FJ Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of EZCORP during the fourth quarter valued at $2,593,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of EZCORP during the first quarter valued at $1,777,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in EZCORP in the first quarter valued at about $1,207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

About EZCORP

EZCORP, Inc (NASDAQ: EZPW) is a specialty consumer financial services and retail company focused primarily on pawn operations. Through its pawn stores, the company provides short-term, collateralized loans to consumers who pledge personal property such as jewelry, electronics, tools, and musical instruments.

When customers do not redeem their pledged items, EZCORP sells the merchandise through its retail locations and digital channels. Its stores also purchase pre-owned goods for resale, offering consumers access to a range of previously owned jewelry, electronics, tools, and other products.

Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, EZCORP serves customers through operations in the United States and Latin America, including Mexico.