EZCORP (EZPW) Competitors

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) and EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, community ranking, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ECPG or EZPW?

Encore Capital Group received 2 more outperform votes than EZCORP when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.75% of users gave Encore Capital Group an outperform vote while only 56.24% of users gave EZCORP an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Encore Capital Group	Outperform Votes 331 61.75%	Underperform Votes 205 38.25%
EZCORP	Outperform Votes 329 56.24%	Underperform Votes 256 43.76%

Which has better valuation and earnings, ECPG or EZPW?

EZCORP has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Encore Capital Group. Encore Capital Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than EZCORP, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Encore Capital Group	$1.32B	0.62	-$206.49M	-$5.87	-5.89
EZCORP	$1.18B	0.73	$83.10M	$1.15	13.63

Is ECPG or EZPW more profitable?

EZCORP has a net margin of 7.25% compared to Encore Capital Group's net margin of -13.91%. Encore Capital Group's return on equity of 12.70% beat EZCORP's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Encore Capital Group	-13.91%	12.70%	2.61%
EZCORP	7.25%	11.04%	5.93%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of ECPG or EZPW?

99.8% of EZCORP shares are held by institutional investors. 2.6% of Encore Capital Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of EZCORP shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, ECPG or EZPW?

Encore Capital Group has a beta of 1.58, indicating that its stock price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, EZCORP has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate ECPG or EZPW?

Encore Capital Group currently has a consensus price target of $62.67, indicating a potential upside of 81.12%. EZCORP has a consensus price target of $16.88, indicating a potential upside of 7.69%. Given Encore Capital Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Encore Capital Group is more favorable than EZCORP.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Encore Capital Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.25
EZCORP	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media refer more to ECPG or EZPW?

In the previous week, EZCORP had 10 more articles in the media than Encore Capital Group. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for EZCORP and 4 mentions for Encore Capital Group. EZCORP's average media sentiment score of 1.21 beat Encore Capital Group's score of 1.11 indicating that EZCORP is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Encore Capital Group	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
EZCORP	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Encore Capital Group and EZCORP tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.