Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 152,250 EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 152,250 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of EZCORP by 97.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,156 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its position in shares of EZCORP by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 19,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 4,070 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of EZCORP by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 304,235 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,718,000 after buying an additional 5,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of EZCORP by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 151,628 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,853,000 after buying an additional 6,205 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

EZCORP Trading Down 4.3 %

EZPW stock opened at $15.67 on Friday. EZCORP, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.66 and a 12 month high of $16.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.80 and its 200 day moving average is $13.15. The company has a market capitalization of $860.89 million, a PE ratio of 13.63 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 2.13.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. EZCORP had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 7.25%. The firm had revenue of $306.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.35 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm began coverage on EZCORP in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of EZCORP from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded EZCORP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $13.50 price objective on shares of EZCORP in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $16.00 target price on EZCORP in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EZCORP currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.88.

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.