James Investment Research Inc. Has $612,000 Stake in EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW

James Investment Research Inc. lifted its position in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 14.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,113 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,505 shares during the quarter. James Investment Research Inc.’s holdings in EZCORP were worth $612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,263,712 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $48,042,000 after purchasing an additional 9,968 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 289.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,569,488 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $23,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,758 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 31.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,520,830 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,387,000 after purchasing an additional 359,543 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 21.8% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,455,869 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $21,430,000 after purchasing an additional 260,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 55.7% in the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,229,705 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,101,000 after purchasing an additional 439,937 shares in the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at EZCORP

In other news, Director Matthew W. Appel sold 9,038 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.02, for a total value of $162,864.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 133,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,403,345.42. This trade represents a 6.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on EZCORP from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

EZCORP Stock Performance

EZCORP stock opened at $17.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 6.31 and a quick ratio of 5.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.51. EZCORP, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.09 and a 52-week high of $19.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 0.62.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $302.25 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EZCORP Profile

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.