Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Position in EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 26,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $660,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EZPW. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of EZCORP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in EZCORP by 533.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,667 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in EZCORP by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,146 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in EZCORP in the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in EZCORP in the fourth quarter valued at $212,000. 99.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jason A. Kulas sold 20,000 shares of EZCORP stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total transaction of $671,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 172,948 shares in the company, valued at $5,804,134.88. The trade was a 10.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $320,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 217,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,961,376. The trade was a 4.39% 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. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

EZCORP Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of EZPW traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $34.97. 49,471 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 903,033. EZCORP, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.07 and a 52 week high of $37.13. The company has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.26. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.22. EZCORP had a net margin of 9.91% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The firm had revenue of $434.90 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that EZCORP, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EZPW. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $44.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings raised EZCORP from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Citizens Jmp increased their price target on EZCORP from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

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.