Wasatch Advisors LP Sells 165,552 Shares of EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW

Wasatch Advisors LP lessened its holdings in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 548,382 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 165,552 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in EZCORP were worth $18,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EZPW. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of EZCORP by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 19,375 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 3,705 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in EZCORP in the first quarter valued at about $1,646,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in EZCORP by 47.9% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 183,291 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,544,000 after purchasing an additional 59,339 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in EZCORP by 0.9% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 73,064 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in EZCORP in the second quarter worth about $1,718,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EZPW shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on EZCORP from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $44.00 target price on EZCORP in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at EZCORP

In other news, Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of EZCORP stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.54, for a total value of $355,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 207,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,376,078.22. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

EZCORP Trading Up 7.2%

Shares of EZCORP stock opened at $28.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 3.45, a current ratio of 4.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.22. EZCORP, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.42 and a 12-month high of $37.13.

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