EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Shares Sold by Aviance Capital Partners LLC

Aviance Capital Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 17.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,176 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,837 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in EZCORP were worth $263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in EZCORP by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,313,154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,697,000 after purchasing an additional 17,975 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,532,799 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,137,000 after acquiring an additional 228,013 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of EZCORP by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,510,414 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $21,941,000 after buying an additional 118,599 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of EZCORP by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 1,118,450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,775,000 after purchasing an additional 110,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in EZCORP by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 710,295 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,860,000 after buying an additional 144,641 shares in the last quarter. 99.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their target price on shares of EZCORP from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd.

Insider Transactions at EZCORP

In related news, Director Matthew W. Appel sold 26,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.32, for a total transaction of $273,376.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,431,218.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

EZCORP Stock Down 0.3 %

EZPW traded down $0.03 during trading on Monday, reaching $10.44. 32,779 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 533,514. EZCORP, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.70 and a fifty-two week high of $11.52. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 4.17 and a quick ratio of 3.23. The stock has a market cap of $573.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 1.05.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $285.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.59 million. EZCORP had a return on equity of 10.55% and a net margin of 7.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.11 EPS 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.