EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Stock Price Down 7.3% – Time to Sell?

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) dropped 7.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $30.36 and last traded at $29.95. Approximately 304,528 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 922,856 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EZPW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of EZCORP from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of EZCORP from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EZCORP has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.80.

EZCORP Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.45, a current ratio of 4.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.67.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $408.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.83 million. EZCORP had a net margin of 9.97% and a return on equity of 13.99%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that EZCORP, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at EZCORP

In other news, Director Pablo Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.54, for a total transaction of $355,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 207,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,376,078.22. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Ellen H. Bryant sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.77, for a total transaction of $1,043,100.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 117,786 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,419.22. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EZPW. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of EZCORP by 43.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 59,035 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,041,000 after purchasing an additional 17,986 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EZCORP during the 2nd quarter worth $98,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of EZCORP during the second quarter worth $270,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of EZCORP during the second quarter worth $90,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management increased its holdings in EZCORP by 4.7% in the second quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 14,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

About EZCORP

EZCORP, Inc (NASDAQ: EZPW) is a specialty consumer financial services and retail company focused primarily on pawn operations. Through its pawn stores, the company provides short-term, collateralized loans to consumers who pledge personal property such as jewelry, electronics, tools, and musical instruments.

When customers do not redeem their pledged items, EZCORP sells the merchandise through its retail locations and digital channels. Its stores also purchase pre-owned goods for resale, offering consumers access to a range of previously owned jewelry, electronics, tools, and other products.

Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, EZCORP serves customers through operations in the United States and Latin America, including Mexico.