EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Upgraded to "Strong-Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW - Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on EZPW. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on EZCORP from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Roth Capital set a $16.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $18.25.

EZCORP Stock Performance

EZPW stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $13.17. The company had a trading volume of 400,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 749,049. The firm has a market cap of $724.53 million, a PE ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.53. EZCORP has a 1-year low of $9.66 and a 1-year high of $16.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. EZCORP had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 7.25%. The company had revenue of $306.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $310.35 million. On average, analysts expect that EZCORP will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at EZCORP

In other EZCORP news, COO John Blair Jr. Powell sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.17, for a total transaction of $283,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 169,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,401,574.11. This represents a 10.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 86,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,220,010. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EZPW. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in EZCORP by 60.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in EZCORP in the first quarter worth about $91,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in EZCORP by 652.4% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 6,622 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in EZCORP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in EZCORP in the first quarter valued at approximately $149,000. 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.