Pablo Lagos Espinosa Sells 10,000 Shares of EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Stock

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of EZCORP stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $320,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 217,543 shares in the company, valued at $6,961,376. This represents a 4.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

EZCORP Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EZPW opened at $32.07 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.53. EZCORP, Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.85 and a 12 month high of $37.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43 and a beta of 0.63.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on EZPW. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of EZCORP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of EZCORP from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $44.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $37.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EZPW. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of EZCORP in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of EZCORP in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in shares of EZCORP in the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 533.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,667 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 913.5% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,216 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EZCORP Company Profile

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.