EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

EZPW has been the subject of several other reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on EZCORP from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Roth Capital set a $16.00 price objective on EZCORP in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Roth Mkm began coverage on EZCORP in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on shares of EZCORP in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.25.

EZCORP Stock Performance

Shares of EZPW stock opened at $13.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 2.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.07 and a 200-day moving average of $13.43. EZCORP has a one year low of $9.66 and a one year high of $16.60. The company has a market cap of $722.88 million, a P/E ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 0.59.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. EZCORP had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The business had revenue of $306.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.35 million. Equities research analysts forecast that EZCORP will post 1.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EZCORP

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in EZCORP in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,646,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 2.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 348,482 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,130,000 after buying an additional 7,059 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of EZCORP in the first quarter valued at $362,000. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of EZCORP during the 1st quarter valued at $999,000. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of EZCORP during the 1st quarter worth $353,000. Institutional investors own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

About EZCORP

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.