Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC Has $2.17 Million Stake in EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 111,860 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,360 shares during the period. EZCORP accounts for about 0.6% of Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in EZCORP were worth $2,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP grew its position in EZCORP by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 138,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,637,000 after purchasing an additional 39,195 shares during the last quarter. Miller Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in EZCORP in the 4th quarter worth $1,451,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in EZCORP by 163.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 483,211 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,200,000 after purchasing an additional 299,920 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in EZCORP in the 4th quarter worth $1,207,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,610,029 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $68,735,000 after acquiring an additional 369,817 shares during the period. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at EZCORP

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on EZPW. Weiss Ratings raised shares of EZCORP from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on shares of EZCORP from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of EZCORP from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of EZCORP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of EZCORP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

EZCORP Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ EZPW opened at $34.62 on Wednesday. EZCORP, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.85 and a 1-year high of $37.13. The company has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 18.82 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.54.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.22. EZCORP had a net margin of 9.91% and a return on equity of 13.45%. The company had revenue of $434.90 million during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts expect that EZCORP, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.