Navellier & Associates Inc. Purchases 43,780 Shares of EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW

Navellier & Associates Inc. lifted its position in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 203.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 65,347 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,780 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in EZCORP were worth $2,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in EZCORP by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 13,707 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in EZCORP by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in EZCORP by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 73,064 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,014,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in EZCORP by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,146 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in EZCORP during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. 99.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

EZCORP Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EZPW opened at $33.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67 and a beta of 0.66. EZCORP, Inc. has a one year low of $16.31 and a one year high of $37.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.97. The company has a current ratio of 4.81, a quick ratio of 3.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $408.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $425.83 million. EZCORP had a net margin of 9.97% and a return on equity of 13.99%. Sell-side analysts expect that EZCORP, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded EZCORP from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Citizens Jmp raised their target price on EZCORP from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $44.00 price target on EZCORP in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.80.

Insider Transactions at EZCORP

In other news, insider Ellen H. Bryant sold 30,000 shares of EZCORP stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.77, for a total transaction of $1,043,100.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 117,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,419.22. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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. Also, Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.54, for a total transaction of $355,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 207,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,376,078.22. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 50,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,718,500 over the last ninety days. 2.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About EZCORP

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.