EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on EZCORP from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a $34.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

EZCORP Stock Performance

Shares of EZPW opened at $25.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.69, a current ratio of 6.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. EZCORP has a 52-week low of $12.85 and a 52-week high of $26.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14 and a beta of 0.53.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $374.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.63 million. EZCORP had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 12.37%. Equities research analysts predict that EZCORP will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EZCORP

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in EZCORP by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 892,713 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,341,000 after buying an additional 82,726 shares in the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 233.0% in the 4th quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 495,962 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,639,000 after acquiring an additional 347,021 shares during the period. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC now owns 111,860 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 18,360 shares during the period. Requisite Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 173,582 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, L & S Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in EZCORP during the 4th quarter worth $1,939,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

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.