EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 36.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 408,669 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 235,451 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in EZCORP were worth $10,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EZPW. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in EZCORP by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in EZCORP by 0.9% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 73,064 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in EZCORP by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 18,173 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in EZCORP by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,146 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the period. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC raised its position in EZCORP by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 44,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $965,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the period. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jason A. Kulas sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total transaction of $671,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 172,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,804,134.88. This represents a 10.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $320,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 217,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,961,376. The trade was a 4.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

EZCORP Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of EZCORP stock opened at $32.52 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.62. EZCORP, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.07 and a 12-month high of $37.13. 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 $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 0.63.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.22. EZCORP had a net margin of 9.91% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The firm had revenue of $434.90 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that EZCORP, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $44.00 target price on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upped their target price on shares of EZCORP from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EZCORP has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $37.25.

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.