California State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Position in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW)

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 785 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in EZCORP were worth $544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EZPW. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in EZCORP by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,002,197 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $24,467,000 after acquiring an additional 310,706 shares in the last quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP lifted its stake in EZCORP by 1,699.2% during the 4th quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 1,246,445 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177,166 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in EZCORP by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,195,784 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $14,612,000 after acquiring an additional 231,018 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in EZCORP by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,022,570 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,496,000 after acquiring an additional 12,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its stake in EZCORP by 317.1% during the 4th quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 789,768 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,651,000 after acquiring an additional 600,435 shares in the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at EZCORP

In other news, COO John Blair Jr. Powell sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.17, for a total value of $283,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 169,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,401,574.11. This represents a 10.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 86,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,220,010 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on EZPW. Roth Capital set a $16.00 target price on EZCORP in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on EZCORP from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. 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. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on EZCORP in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.25.

EZCORP Price Performance

EZPW stock opened at $13.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.91 and a quick ratio of 2.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $754.24 million, a P/E ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50-day moving average is $14.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.57. EZCORP, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.66 and a 1 year high of $16.60.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $306.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.35 million. EZCORP had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 7.25%. Analysts anticipate that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EZCORP Profile

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.