Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 152,250 EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 152,250 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in EZCORP by 97.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,156 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,554 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its position in shares of EZCORP by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 19,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,088 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of EZCORP by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,084,777 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,809 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of EZCORP by 1.7% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 5,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in EZCORP by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 151,628 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,853,000 after purchasing an additional 6,205 shares during the period. 99.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on EZPW. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on EZCORP from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $13.50 target price on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered EZCORP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Roth Capital set a $16.00 price target on EZCORP in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of EZCORP in a research note on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.88.

EZCORP Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of EZPW opened at $14.72 on Tuesday. EZCORP, Inc. has a one year low of $9.66 and a one year high of $15.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $13.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a current ratio of 2.91. The company has a market capitalization of $808.70 million, a P/E ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.89.

EZCORP (NASDAQ:EZPW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The credit services provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.07. EZCORP had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 7.25%. Sell-side analysts forecast that EZCORP, Inc. will post 1.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EZCORP Profile

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.