EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Director Sells $320,000.00 in Stock

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $320,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 217,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,961,376. This trade represents a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

EZCORP Stock Performance

EZPW stock traded down $0.19 on Monday, reaching $31.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 247,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 843,470. EZCORP, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.85 and a 52 week high of $37.13. The company has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $30.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 3.52.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.22. EZCORP had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 9.91%.The business had revenue of $434.90 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts predict that EZCORP, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EZCORP

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of EZCORP by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,610,029 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $68,735,000 after acquiring an additional 369,817 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of EZCORP by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,563,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $69,209,000 after acquiring an additional 84,566 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of EZCORP by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,167,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $61,518,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019,622 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of EZCORP by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,321,138 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,217,000 after acquiring an additional 118,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of EZCORP by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,975,421 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,612,000 after acquiring an additional 437,601 shares during the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EZPW shares. Zacks Research upgraded EZCORP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded EZCORP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $44.00 target price on EZCORP in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded EZCORP from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $37.25.

EZCORP Company Profile

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.