EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $44.00 target price on shares of EZCORP in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.80.

EZCORP Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EZPW opened at $30.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 4.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. EZCORP has a 52 week low of $13.07 and a 52 week high of $37.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.57.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its 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 return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 9.91%.The firm had revenue of $434.90 million during the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that EZCORP will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.54, for a total transaction of $355,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 207,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,376,078.22. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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. Also, Director Jason A. Kulas sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total value of $671,200.00. Following the sale, the director owned 172,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,804,134.88. The trade was a 10.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,346,600 over the last 90 days. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in EZCORP by 23.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 19,375 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 3,705 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EZCORP in the first quarter worth $1,646,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 47.9% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 183,291 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,544,000 after acquiring an additional 59,339 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 73,064 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of EZCORP during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,718,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

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.