EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Insider Ellen Bryant Sells 30,000 Shares

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) insider Ellen Bryant sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.77, for a total value of $1,043,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 117,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,419.22. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

EZCORP Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:EZPW traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.23. 1,166,037 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 946,980. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.44 and a 200 day moving average of $29.71. EZCORP, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.20 and a twelve month high of $37.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 3.45 and a current ratio of 4.81.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last issued 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 business had revenue of $408.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.83 million. EZCORP had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 9.97%. On average, analysts forecast that EZCORP, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on EZPW. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings cut EZCORP from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on EZCORP from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research cut EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, EZCORP presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in EZCORP in the second quarter valued at $270,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 3,013.1% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,201,763 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $76,115,000 after buying an additional 2,131,038 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of EZCORP in the second quarter worth about $90,000. Triumph Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 4.7% in the second quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 14,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navellier & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in EZCORP by 203.0% during the second quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 65,347 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,259,000 after acquiring an additional 43,780 shares during the period. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.