Brokerages Set EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) PT at $37.25

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.25.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $44.00 price objective on EZCORP in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded EZCORP from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded EZCORP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on EZCORP from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th.

EZCORP Stock Performance

EZPW opened at $31.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 4.71, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. EZCORP has a 1 year low of $12.85 and a 1 year high of $37.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.80.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $434.90 million for the quarter. EZCORP had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 9.91%. Sell-side analysts forecast that EZCORP will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EZCORP news, Director Jason A. Kulas sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total value of $671,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 172,948 shares in the company, valued at $5,804,134.88. This represents a 10.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of EZCORP

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EZPW. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in EZCORP by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,167,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $61,518,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019,622 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 70.2% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,063,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $14,764,000 after purchasing an additional 438,542 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 28.5% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,975,421 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $37,612,000 after purchasing an additional 437,601 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 89.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 785,131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,247,000 after purchasing an additional 370,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 11.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,610,029 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $68,735,000 after purchasing an additional 369,817 shares during the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About EZCORP

EZCORP, Inc is a specialty consumer finance company that provides pawn loans and retail merchandise programs primarily through its EZPAWN and Cash Converters brands. The company offers collateral-based loans secured principally by jewelry, electronics, musical instruments and other personal items, alongside check-cashing, money-transfer and bill-payment services. In addition to its pawn lending operations, EZCORP acquires previously pawned or consumer merchandise for resale through its “Sell-It-Now” platform and retail storefronts.

Founded in 1989 and headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, EZCORP operates in two principal geographic markets: the United States and Mexico.