EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.25.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on EZCORP in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research assumed coverage on EZCORP in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded EZCORP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on EZCORP from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th.

EZCORP Trading Down 1.8%

EZCORP stock opened at $13.17 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.59. The company has a market cap of $724.53 million, a P/E ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.53. EZCORP has a 52-week low of $9.66 and a 52-week high of $16.60. The company has a quick ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EZCORP news, COO John Blair Jr. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.81, for a total value of $48,335.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 145,983 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,025.23. This represents a 2.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,220,010 in the last three months. 2.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of EZCORP by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,263,712 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $48,042,000 after acquiring an additional 9,968 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of EZCORP by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,002,197 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $24,467,000 after acquiring an additional 310,706 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of EZCORP by 289.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,569,488 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $23,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,758 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of EZCORP by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,520,830 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,387,000 after acquiring an additional 359,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of EZCORP by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,455,869 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $21,430,000 after acquiring an additional 260,085 shares during the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.