EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) Short Interest Update

EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,230,000 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the May 31st total of 7,710,000 shares. Currently, 16.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 538,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 15.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EZPW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped 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. StockNews.com cut EZCORP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EZCORP news, Director Matthew W. Appel sold 26,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.32, for a total value of $273,376.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,431,218.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EZCORP

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in EZCORP by 0.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in EZCORP by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,301,392 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $37,405,000 after purchasing an additional 34,821 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of EZCORP by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,593,128 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,380,000 after purchasing an additional 60,329 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of EZCORP by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,510,414 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $21,941,000 after purchasing an additional 118,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Advisors Inc. increased 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 valued at $9,775,000 after buying an additional 110,650 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.83% of the company’s stock.

EZCORP Price Performance

EZPW traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $10.25. The stock had a trading volume of 215,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 534,591. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 4.17. EZCORP has a 1 year low of $7.70 and a 1 year high of $11.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $10.35 and a 200 day moving average of $10.11. The company has a market cap of $563.14 million, a P/E ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 1.04.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. EZCORP had a return on equity of 10.55% and a net margin of 7.05%. The company had revenue of $285.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $287.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that EZCORP will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.