12,121 Shares in EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW Acquired by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 12,121 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $168,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners grew its stake in EZCORP by 289.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,569,488 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $23,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,758 shares during the period. Fourth Sail Capital LP grew its stake in EZCORP by 503.6% in the first quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP now owns 957,262 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $14,091,000 after acquiring an additional 798,679 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in EZCORP in the first quarter valued at approximately $8,310,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in EZCORP in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,104,000. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its stake in EZCORP by 55.7% in the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 1,229,705 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,101,000 after acquiring an additional 439,937 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

EZCORP Stock Down 1.6%

EZPW stock opened at $19.00 on Thursday. EZCORP, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.09 and a twelve month high of $19.44. The company has a quick ratio of 5.00, a current ratio of 6.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $17.24 and its 200-day moving average is $15.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84 and a beta of 0.62.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $310.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $302.25 million. EZCORP had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 7.96%. Sell-side analysts expect that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew W. Appel sold 9,038 shares of EZCORP stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.02, for a total transaction of $162,864.76. Following the sale, the director directly owned 133,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,403,345.42. This trade represents a 6.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on EZPW. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on EZCORP from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

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.