Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Acquires 129,460 Shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 680.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 148,480 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 129,460 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in EZCORP were worth $2,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Teza Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 14,425 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 60.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 11.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 4,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,034 shares in the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

EZCORP Stock Up 0.8%

EZPW stock opened at $13.43 on Thursday. EZCORP, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.66 and a fifty-two week high of $16.60. The business’s 50-day moving average is $14.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a current ratio of 4.04. The company has a market cap of $738.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 0.53.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The credit services provider reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $306.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.35 million. EZCORP had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 7.45%. As a group, analysts forecast that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on EZPW. Roth Mkm began coverage on EZCORP in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on EZCORP from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised EZCORP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. BTIG Research began coverage on EZCORP in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital set a $16.00 target price on EZCORP in a report on Monday, March 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EZCORP news, COO John Blair Jr. Powell sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 169,483 shares in the company, valued at $2,401,574.11. This represents a 10.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 86,000 shares of company stock worth $1,220,010 over the last quarter. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.