EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 437,138 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 20% from the previous session’s volume of 546,984 shares.The stock last traded at $15.70 and had previously closed at $15.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EZPW shares. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on EZCORP in a report on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of EZCORP from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $13.50 target price on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Roth Capital set a $16.00 price objective on EZCORP in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of EZCORP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.88.

EZCORP Stock Down 1.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $842.32 million, a P/E ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 2.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.07. EZCORP had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 11.04%. On average, equities analysts expect that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EZCORP

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP lifted its position in EZCORP by 1,699.2% in the 4th quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 1,246,445 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177,166 shares in the last quarter. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC bought a new position in shares of EZCORP during the third quarter valued at $8,372,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of EZCORP by 317.1% during the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 789,768 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,651,000 after buying an additional 600,435 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in EZCORP by 18.4% in 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 buying an additional 310,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its position in EZCORP by 77.6% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 658,515 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,047,000 after buying an additional 287,818 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

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.