Teacher Retirement System of Texas Decreases Stock Position in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its stake in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW - Free Report) by 68.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,180 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 187,031 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.16% of EZCORP worth $1,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Teza Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of EZCORP by 60.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 1,906 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of EZCORP by 16.9% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,874 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 2,725 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of EZCORP by 4.3% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 80,099 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,179,000 after buying an additional 3,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of EZCORP by 39.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on EZPW shares. Roth Mkm started coverage on EZCORP in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on EZCORP from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. BTIG Research started coverage on 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 EZCORP in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.50.

EZCORP Price Performance

NASDAQ EZPW traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $14.19. 691,164 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 782,294. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.79. EZCORP, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.91 and a 1 year high of $16.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 3.25. The company has a market cap of $780.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EZCORP news, COO John Blair Jr. Powell sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 2.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,220,010 in the last quarter. 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.