EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• EZCORP, Inc. has an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from six covering brokerages, with target prices averaging around $19.00.
• The company's stock opened at $18.49 and has been performing well, reporting $0.33 earnings per share in the most recent quarter, beating forecasts.
• Institutional investors hold 99.83% of EZCORP's stock, indicating strong interest from hedge funds and investment groups.

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.00.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on EZCORP from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised EZCORP from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th.

EZCORP Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EZPW opened at $18.49 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $16.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 5.00, a current ratio of 6.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. EZCORP has a twelve month low of $11.09 and a twelve month high of $19.25.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $310.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $302.25 million. EZCORP had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 7.96%. On average, analysts anticipate that EZCORP will post 1.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at EZCORP

In other news, Director Matthew W. Appel sold 9,038 shares of EZCORP stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.02, for a total transaction of $162,864.76. Following the sale, the director directly owned 133,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,403,345.42. This trade represents a 6.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.13% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of EZCORP

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,263,712 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $48,042,000 after purchasing an additional 9,968 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 5.4% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,321,138 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $32,217,000 after purchasing an additional 118,641 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 289.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,569,488 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $23,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,758 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 31.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,520,830 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $22,387,000 after acquiring an additional 359,543 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 21.8% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,455,869 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $21,430,000 after acquiring an additional 260,085 shares during the period. 99.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About EZCORP

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.

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