EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW Shares Purchased by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in EZCORP by 70.6% in Q1, owning 218,847 shares valued at $3.22 million.
• EZCORP reported $0.33 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' consensus by $0.10, with revenue of $310.98 million.
• Recent analyst ratings include a shift from "buy" to "strong-buy" from Wall Street Zen, with an average target price of $18.50 for EZCORP stock.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW - Free Report) by 70.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 218,847 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 90,533 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned 0.40% of EZCORP worth $3,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Teza Capital Management LLC boosted its position in EZCORP by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in EZCORP by 60.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 1,906 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in EZCORP by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,874 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 2,725 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in EZCORP by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 80,099 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,179,000 after buying an additional 3,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its position in EZCORP by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 23,469 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 3,669 shares during the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EZPW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of EZCORP from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO John Blair Jr. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.81, for a total transaction of $48,335.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 145,983 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,025.23. This represents a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

EZCORP Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of EZCORP stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.00. The company had a trading volume of 546,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 802,627. The company has a market cap of $974.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 0.56. EZCORP, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.56 and a fifty-two week high of $16.60. The firm's fifty day moving average is $14.27 and its 200-day moving average is $14.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 5.00 and a current ratio of 6.31.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.10. The firm 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, analysts anticipate that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

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.