EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Director Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.54, for a total transaction of $355,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 207,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,376,078.22. This represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Pablo Lagos Espinosa also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, June 5th, Pablo Lagos Espinosa sold 10,000 shares of EZCORP stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $320,000.00.

EZCORP Trading Up 5.1%

EZCORP stock traded up $1.65 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $33.81. The stock had a trading volume of 111,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 910,280. EZCORP, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.07 and a twelve month high of $37.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 4.71 and a quick ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.46.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The credit services provider reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.22. EZCORP had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 9.91%.The business had revenue of $434.90 million during the quarter. Equities analysts anticipate that EZCORP, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EZCORP

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in EZCORP by 23.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 19,375 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 3,705 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in EZCORP in the 1st quarter worth $1,646,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in EZCORP by 47.9% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 183,291 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,544,000 after purchasing an additional 59,339 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 73,064 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,014,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of EZCORP during the second quarter valued at about $1,718,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EZPW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $44.00 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on shares of EZCORP from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on EZCORP from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EZCORP presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.80.

EZCORP Company Profile

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.