Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 2,600 Shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW)

Heartland Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of EZCORP, Inc. (NASDAQ:EZPW) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,068,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in EZCORP were worth $13,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EZPW. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in EZCORP by 97.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,156 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of EZCORP during the 4th quarter valued at $122,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in EZCORP by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 4,070 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in EZCORP in the 4th quarter worth about $186,000. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in EZCORP during the 4th quarter valued at about $188,000. 99.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $13.50 price target on shares of EZCORP in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Roth Capital set a $16.00 price target on shares of EZCORP in a report on Monday, March 17th. Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of EZCORP in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on EZCORP from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EZCORP presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.88.

EZCORP Stock Performance

EZCORP stock opened at $15.00 on Friday. EZCORP, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.66 and a fifty-two week high of $15.35. 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 stock has a market cap of $824.09 million, a P/E ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $13.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.31.

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