Hennessy Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 511,800 EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW

Key Points

• Hennessy Advisors Inc. has acquired 511,800 shares of EZCORP, valued at approximately $7.1 million, representing about 0.93% of the company at the end of the last quarter.
• EZCORP received multiple upgrades from analysts, with Wall Street Zen changing its rating from "buy" to a "strong-buy," and the stock currently has an average price target of $18.50.
• The company's stock opened at $18.18 and has shown a strong performance, exceeding earnings expectations with reported EPS of $0.33 for the last quarter, compared to a consensus estimate of $0.23.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 511,800 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,104,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.93% of EZCORP at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of EZCORP during the second quarter worth about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 60.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in shares of EZCORP during the first quarter worth about $91,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 652.4% during 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. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of EZCORP during the second quarter worth about $139,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.83% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on EZPW shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded EZCORP from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $18.50.

EZCORP Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EZPW opened at $18.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 6.31 and a quick ratio of 5.00. EZCORP, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.02 and a 1-year high of $19.24.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 7.96% and a return on equity of 11.85%. On average, research analysts expect that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

EZCORP 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EZPW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.