EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Stock Price Up 2.9% on Analyst Upgrade

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) traded up 2.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $18.00. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. EZCORP traded as high as $11.16 and last traded at $11.13. 99,792 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 531,767 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.82.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on EZPW. StockNews.com cut shares of EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 29th. TheStreet raised shares of EZCORP from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th.

Insider Transactions at EZCORP

In other news, CRO Nicole Swies sold 2,250 shares of EZCORP stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.38, for a total value of $25,605.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 71,458 shares in the company, valued at $813,192.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of EZCORP

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in EZCORP by 25.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 710,295 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,860,000 after buying an additional 144,641 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of EZCORP by 149.0% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 56,325 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 33,701 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of EZCORP by 40.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 100,413 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $829,000 after purchasing an additional 29,050 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of EZCORP by 28.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 664,019 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,478,000 after purchasing an additional 145,068 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of EZCORP in the third quarter worth approximately $90,000. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EZCORP Trading Up 2.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $613.82 million, a P/E ratio of 17.60 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 4.00 and a quick ratio of 3.08.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $299.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $303.66 million. EZCORP had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 10.37%. Equities research analysts expect that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

EZCORP Company Profile

EZCORP, Inc provides pawn services in the United States and Latin America. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Pawn, Latin America Pawn, and Other Investments. The company offers pawn loans collateralized by tangible personal property, jewelry, consumer electronics, tools, sporting goods, and musical instruments.