Boston Partners Trims Position in EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW

Boston Partners reduced its position in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 97.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,533,018 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 0.06% of EZCORP worth $506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in EZCORP in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in shares of EZCORP in the first quarter worth $91,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of EZCORP by 652.4% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 6,622 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in EZCORP during the second quarter valued at $139,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in EZCORP during the first quarter valued at $149,000. Institutional investors own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EZPW. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of EZCORP from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $23.00 price target on shares of EZCORP in a report on Monday, November 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.50.

EZCORP Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EZPW opened at $19.37 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.26 and a 200 day moving average of $15.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 6.31 and a quick ratio of 5.00. EZCORP, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.56 and a 1-year high of $19.44.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The credit services provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $335.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.09 million. EZCORP had a net margin of 7.96% and a return on equity of 11.85%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EZCORP news, Director Matthew W. Appel sold 9,038 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.02, for a total value of $162,864.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 133,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,345.42. The trade was a 6.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About EZCORP

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.