Canaccord Genuity Group Reaffirms Buy Rating for EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW)

Key Points

• Canaccord Genuity Group has reaffirmed its strong "Buy" rating for EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) with a target price of $25.00, indicating a potential upside of 76.30%.
• EZCORP recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.33 per share, surpassing expectations of $0.23, with revenues of $310.98 million.
• Insider trading activity includes COO John Blair Jr. Powell selling 42,500 shares at an average price of $14.55, marking a decrease in his equity stake by nearly 18.32%.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by stock analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $25.00 price objective on the credit services provider's stock. Canaccord Genuity Group's price target would suggest a potential upside of 70.79% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen raised EZCORP from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of EZCORP in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EZCORP has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.50.

EZCORP Trading Down 0.7%

EZCORP stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $14.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 198,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,013,928. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 6.31 and a quick ratio of 5.00. EZCORP has a 12 month low of $10.56 and a 12 month high of $16.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $13.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.00. The stock has a market cap of $805.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.56.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.10. EZCORP had a net margin of 7.96% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The firm had revenue of $310.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $302.25 million. As a group, analysts forecast that EZCORP will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other EZCORP news, COO John Blair Jr. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.81, for a total transaction of $48,335.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 145,983 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,025.23. This represents a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,220,010. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EZCORP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP raised its position in EZCORP by 1,699.2% in the 4th quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 1,246,445 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $15,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177,166 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in EZCORP by 289.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,569,488 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $23,499,000 after buying an additional 1,166,758 shares during the period. Fourth Sail Capital LP increased its position in shares of EZCORP by 503.6% during the first quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 957,262 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $14,091,000 after acquiring an additional 798,679 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of EZCORP by 317.1% during the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 789,768 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $9,651,000 after acquiring an additional 600,435 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of EZCORP during the first quarter worth approximately $8,310,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.83% of the company's stock.

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.