Heartland Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW)

Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW - Free Report) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,118,450 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 110,650 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 2.04% of EZCORP worth $9,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of EZCORP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $90,000. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in EZCORP in the third quarter valued at $112,000. Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new position in EZCORP in the third quarter valued at $123,000. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in EZCORP in the fourth quarter valued at $158,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in EZCORP in the fourth quarter valued at $228,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.83% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at EZCORP

In other news, CRO Nicole Swies sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.38, for a total value of $25,605.00. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 71,458 shares in the company, valued at $813,192.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EZPW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of EZCORP from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of EZCORP from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of EZCORP from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th.

EZCORP Stock Performance

NASDAQ EZPW traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $10.34. 475,980 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 562,263. The company has a market cap of $568.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 1.13. EZCORP, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.70 and a 12-month high of $11.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $10.80 and a 200 day moving average of $9.66. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 4.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. EZCORP had a net margin of 7.05% and a return on equity of 10.55%. The company had revenue of $285.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $287.59 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share 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.

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