EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.00.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EZPW shares. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of EZCORP in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research upgraded EZCORP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised EZCORP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gary Tillett sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.50, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 133,483 shares in the company, valued at $3,403,816.50. This represents a 6.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 208,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,204,425. The trade was a 8.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 84,138 shares of company stock worth $2,102,416 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of EZCORP

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EZPW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in EZCORP by 11.4% in 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 boosted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,563,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $69,209,000 after purchasing an additional 84,566 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,167,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $61,518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,622 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of EZCORP by 5.4% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,321,138 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,217,000 after purchasing an additional 118,641 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of EZCORP by 28.5% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,975,421 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,612,000 after purchasing an additional 437,601 shares during the period. 99.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EZCORP Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EZPW opened at $26.69 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.03. The company has a quick ratio of 4.69, a current ratio of 6.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11 and a beta of 0.49. EZCORP has a fifty-two week low of $12.85 and a fifty-two week high of $27.30.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $374.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $363.63 million. EZCORP had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 12.37%. Analysts expect that EZCORP will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.