EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Price Target Raised to $18.00

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from $17.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 62.31% from the company’s current price.

EZPW has been the topic of several other reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of EZCORP from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 29th.

EZCORP Stock Performance

NASDAQ EZPW traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.09. The company had a trading volume of 265,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 534,496. The company has a quick ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 4.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $611.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.26. EZCORP has a fifty-two week low of $7.70 and a fifty-two week high of $11.40.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. EZCORP had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The company had revenue of $299.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $303.66 million. Equities analysts forecast that EZCORP will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EZCORP news, CRO Nicole Swies sold 2,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.38, for a total value of $25,605.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 71,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $813,192.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EZCORP

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EZPW. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 0.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 499,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,018,000 after buying an additional 3,614 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in EZCORP during the first quarter valued at approximately $62,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in EZCORP by 221.6% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 20,201 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 13,919 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in EZCORP by 15.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 46,172 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 6,049 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in EZCORP by 3.4% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,038,266 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $54,591,000 after purchasing an additional 293,054 shares during the period. 99.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

EZCORP Company Profile

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.