EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Price Target Raised to $18.00 at Canaccord Genuity Group

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) had its target price raised by equities researchers at Canaccord Genuity Group from $17.00 to $18.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 62.75% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on EZPW. TheStreet upgraded shares of EZCORP from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 29th.

EZCORP Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of EZPW opened at $11.06 on Tuesday. EZCORP has a twelve month low of $7.70 and a twelve month high of $11.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $609.96 million, a P/E ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 4.00, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.29.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $299.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $303.66 million. EZCORP had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 4.62%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that EZCORP will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CRO Nicole Swies sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.38, for a total value of $25,605.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 71,458 shares in the company, valued at $813,192.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in EZCORP by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 48,335 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 12,135 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of EZCORP by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 271,091 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,369,000 after acquiring an additional 34,819 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in shares of EZCORP by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 162,558 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 4,204 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 133,079 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 7,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oberweis Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in EZCORP by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. now owns 655,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,729,000 after purchasing an additional 60,200 shares during the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.