EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Short Interest Down 14.9% in May

by · The Markets Daily

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW – Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,120,000 shares, a decrease of 14.9% from the April 30th total of 10,720,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.6 days. Currently, 18.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EZCORP

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EZPW. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of EZCORP by 1,699.2% during the fourth quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 1,246,445 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177,166 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in EZCORP by 289.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,569,488 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $23,499,000 after buying an additional 1,166,758 shares during the period. Fourth Sail Capital LP grew its stake in shares of EZCORP by 503.6% in the first quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 957,262 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $14,091,000 after acquiring an additional 798,679 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of EZCORP by 317.1% during the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 789,768 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,651,000 after acquiring an additional 600,435 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EZCORP in the first quarter valued at $8,310,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EZPW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Roth Capital set a $16.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a report on Monday, March 17th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of EZCORP in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of EZCORP from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.25.

Get Our Latest Analysis on EZCORP

EZCORP Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ EZPW opened at $13.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 2.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $716.28 million, a P/E ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.54. EZCORP has a 12 month low of $9.66 and a 12 month high of $16.60.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. EZCORP had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The firm had revenue of $306.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.35 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that EZCORP will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

About EZCORP

(Get Free Report)

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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