EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Lowered to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded EZCORP from a "strong-buy" to a "buy", while the analyst consensus remains a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $29.50.
• EZCORP beat quarterly estimates with $0.55 EPS vs. $0.40 expected and $374.5M revenue vs. $363.6M expected, and the stock is trading around $30.54 (near its 1‑year high) with a market cap of $1.88B.
• Insiders have sold about 84,138 shares (~$2.1M) over the past 90 days, even as institutional investors reportedly own roughly 99.83% of the company's stock.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Citizens Jmp raised their target price on EZCORP from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded EZCORP from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on EZCORP from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EZCORP presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.50.

EZCORP Stock Performance

Shares of EZPW stock opened at $30.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 6.03 and a quick ratio of 4.69. The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.32 and a 200 day moving average of $21.95. EZCORP has a 1 year low of $12.85 and a 1 year high of $30.87.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that EZCORP will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EZCORP news, CRO Nicole Swies sold 24,138 shares of EZCORP stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $597,415.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 115,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,852,833.50. This trade represents a 17.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ellen H. Bryant sold 20,000 shares of EZCORP stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $500,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 147,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,694,650. The trade was a 11.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 84,138 shares of company stock worth $2,102,416. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EZCORP

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 11.4% during 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 buying an additional 369,817 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of EZCORP by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,167,748 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $61,518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,622 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of EZCORP by 5.4% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of EZCORP by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,975,421 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $37,612,000 after purchasing an additional 437,601 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.83% of the company's stock.

EZCORP Company Profile

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.

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