Analysts Set EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Price Target at $18.50

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.50.

EZPW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised EZCORP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of EZCORP in a report on Friday, August 1st.

EZCORP Stock Performance

EZCORP stock opened at $18.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.81. The company has a quick ratio of 5.00, a current ratio of 6.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. EZCORP has a twelve month low of $10.56 and a twelve month high of $18.34. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09 and a beta of 0.63.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.10. EZCORP had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 7.96%.The firm had revenue of $310.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $302.25 million. Research analysts expect that EZCORP will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew W. Appel sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.03, for a total transaction of $153,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 142,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,425,225.27. This represents a 5.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EZPW. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in EZCORP during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of EZCORP by 60.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 1,906 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in shares of EZCORP during the first quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in EZCORP by 652.4% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 6,622 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in EZCORP in the second quarter valued at $139,000. Hedge funds and other 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.