EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW Shares Acquired by Navellier & Associates Inc.

Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its stake in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW - Free Report) by 203.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,347 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 43,780 shares during the quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of EZCORP worth $2,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in EZCORP by 47.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,167,748 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $61,518,000 after buying an additional 1,019,622 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in EZCORP by 70.2% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,063,677 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $14,764,000 after acquiring an additional 438,542 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in EZCORP by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,975,421 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $37,612,000 after acquiring an additional 437,601 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in EZCORP by 89.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 785,131 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $15,247,000 after acquiring an additional 370,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC grew its stake in EZCORP by 233.0% during the 4th quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 495,962 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,639,000 after acquiring an additional 347,021 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.83% of the company's stock.

EZCORP Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of EZCORP stock opened at $33.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 4.81 and a quick ratio of 3.45. EZCORP, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.31 and a 52-week high of $37.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.97.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $408.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $425.83 million. EZCORP had a net margin of 9.97% and a return on equity of 13.99%. On average, equities research analysts expect that EZCORP, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EZCORP news, Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.54, for a total transaction of $355,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 207,543 shares in the company, valued at $7,376,078.22. This trade represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ellen H. Bryant sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.77, for a total value of $1,043,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 117,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,095,419.22. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 50,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,718,500 over the last quarter. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EZPW. Wall Street Zen downgraded EZCORP from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of EZCORP from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of EZCORP from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, EZCORP currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.80.

About EZCORP

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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