Ingalls & Snyder LLC Raises Stock Position in EZCORP, Inc. $EZPW

Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its holdings in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 46.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,262 shares during the period. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in EZCORP were worth $231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of EZCORP in the second quarter worth about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in EZCORP by 60.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in EZCORP in the first quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 652.4% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 6,622 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of EZCORP during the second quarter worth $139,000. 99.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Matthew W. Appel sold 9,038 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.02, for a total transaction of $162,864.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 133,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,345.42. This represents a 6.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EZPW. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of EZCORP from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

EZCORP Stock Performance

EZCORP stock opened at $18.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 6.31 and a quick ratio of 5.00. EZCORP, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.09 and a 12 month high of $19.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.49. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 0.62.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.10. EZCORP had a net margin of 7.96% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $310.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $302.25 million. Research analysts expect that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

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.