Analysts Set EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) PT at $27.00

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.00.

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities set a $23.00 price target on EZCORP in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded EZCORP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th.

EZCORP Price Performance

Shares of EZPW stock opened at $24.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.87. The company has a current ratio of 6.03, a quick ratio of 4.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. EZCORP has a twelve month low of $12.85 and a twelve month high of $26.35.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $374.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.63 million. EZCORP had a net margin of 9.18% and a return on equity of 12.37%. Equities research analysts anticipate that EZCORP will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EZCORP

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EZPW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in EZCORP by 11.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,610,029 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $68,735,000 after buying an additional 369,817 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of EZCORP by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,563,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $69,209,000 after acquiring an additional 84,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,167,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $61,518,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019,622 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in shares of EZCORP by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,321,138 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,217,000 after acquiring an additional 118,641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of EZCORP by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,975,421 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,612,000 after acquiring an additional 437,601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

About EZCORP

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.