EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Stock Price Down 6.2%

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW)’s stock price traded down 6.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $9.80 and last traded at $10.35. 454,981 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 543,162 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EZPW. TheStreet upgraded EZCORP from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of EZCORP from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 29th.

EZCORP Trading Down 4.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $580.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 4.00 and a quick ratio of 3.08.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. EZCORP had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 4.62%. The business had revenue of $285.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $287.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EZCORP news, CRO Nicole Swies sold 2,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.38, for a total transaction of $25,605.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 71,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $813,192.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EZCORP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in EZCORP by 25.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 710,295 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,860,000 after acquiring an additional 144,641 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 149.0% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 56,325 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 33,701 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 100,413 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $829,000 after purchasing an additional 29,050 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in EZCORP in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of EZCORP by 28.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 664,019 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,478,000 after acquiring an additional 145,068 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

EZCORP Company 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.