Ellen Bryant Sells 20,000 Shares of EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Stock

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) insider Ellen Bryant sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $500,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 147,786 shares in the company, valued at $3,694,650. The trade was a 11.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

EZCORP Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:EZPW traded up $0.30 on Wednesday, hitting $25.08. The stock had a trading volume of 473,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 998,362. EZCORP, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.85 and a 1 year high of $26.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.69 and a current ratio of 6.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08 and a beta of 0.53.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $374.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.63 million. EZCORP had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 9.18%. Analysts predict that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of EZCORP

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EZPW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of EZCORP by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,563,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $69,209,000 after buying an additional 84,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,167,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $61,518,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019,622 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in EZCORP by 5.4% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,321,138 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,217,000 after acquiring an additional 118,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 437,601 shares during the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EZPW. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of EZCORP from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research upgraded EZCORP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised EZCORP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

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.