EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW is First Wilshire Securities Management Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 57.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 740,771 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 998,230 shares during the quarter. EZCORP makes up 4.2% of First Wilshire Securities Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc.’s holdings in EZCORP were worth $18,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in EZCORP in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in shares of EZCORP during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 533.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,667 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 2,246 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of EZCORP by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,146 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of EZCORP by 13,001.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 7,861 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 7,801 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $44.00 price objective on EZCORP in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on EZCORP from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on EZCORP from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EZCORP has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.80.

Insider Transactions at EZCORP

In other news, Director Jason A. Kulas sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total transaction of $671,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 172,948 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,804,134.88. This represents a 10.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.54, for a total value of $355,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 207,543 shares in the company, valued at $7,376,078.22. This represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,346,600. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

EZCORP Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of EZPW opened at $32.53 on Wednesday. EZCORP, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.07 and a 12 month high of $37.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.28. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68 and a beta of 0.64.

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

EZCORP 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.