EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

by · The Cerbat Gem

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW – Get Free Report)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $20.89 and last traded at $20.9150, with a volume of 5727723 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on EZPW. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a report on Friday, November 14th. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JMP Securities set a $23.00 price target on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on EZCORP from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EZCORP has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.50.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on EZCORP

EZCORP Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 4.37 and a current ratio of 5.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.52.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The credit services provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.05. EZCORP had a return on equity of 12.00% and a net margin of 8.60%.The firm had revenue of $335.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.09 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at EZCORP

In other EZCORP news, Director Matthew W. Appel sold 9,038 shares of EZCORP stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.02, for a total transaction of $162,864.76. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 133,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,345.42. The trade was a 6.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of EZCORP

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in EZCORP by 11.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,610,029 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $68,735,000 after acquiring an additional 369,817 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in EZCORP by 5.4% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,321,138 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,217,000 after purchasing an additional 118,641 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,148,126 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,900,000 after purchasing an additional 465,462 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,975,421 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,612,000 after purchasing an additional 437,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 289.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,569,488 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $23,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,758 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

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.

Featured Articles