Alps Advisors Inc. Purchases New Stake in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW)

Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 26,020 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $383,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EZPW. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 60.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in EZCORP in the 4th quarter valued at $122,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of EZCORP in the 4th quarter worth about $138,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 4,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.83% of the company's stock.

EZCORP Price Performance

EZPW traded down $0.25 on Friday, reaching $13.98. 552,302 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 785,396. The stock has a market cap of $769.10 million, a PE ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.52. EZCORP, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.91 and a twelve month high of $16.60. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $13.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 3.25.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $306.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.35 million. EZCORP had a net margin of 7.45% and a return on equity of 11.53%. Sell-side analysts expect that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of EZCORP from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of EZCORP from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO John Blair Jr. Powell sold 42,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.55, for a total value of $618,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 189,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,756,977.65. This represents a 18.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,220,010. Insiders own 2.13% of the company's stock.

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.