Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Stock Holdings in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,407 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 10,335 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.25% of EZCORP worth $2,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EZPW. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 60.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in EZCORP in the fourth quarter worth $122,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in EZCORP during the fourth quarter valued at about $138,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of EZCORP by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 4,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of EZCORP by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

EZCORP Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ EZPW opened at $13.30 on Wednesday. EZCORP, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.66 and a 1 year high of $16.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $731.63 million, a PE ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 4.04 and a quick ratio of 3.25. The business’s 50-day moving average is $14.51 and its 200 day moving average is $13.60.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $306.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.35 million. EZCORP had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 7.45%. Sell-side analysts forecast that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at EZCORP

In other news, COO John Blair Jr. Powell sold 10,000 shares of EZCORP stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.26, for a total transaction of $132,600.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 149,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,982,144.58. The trade was a 6.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,220,010 over the last quarter. 2.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EZPW shares. Roth Capital set a $16.00 target price on EZCORP in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on EZCORP from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Roth Mkm began coverage on EZCORP in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $18.25.

EZCORP 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.