Based on the aggregated intelligence of 150,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, pawn shop operator EZCORP (Nasdaq: EZPW) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at EZCORP's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

EZCORP facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Austin, Texas (1989)

Market Cap

$957 million

Industry

Consumer finance

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$654 million

Management

CEO Joseph Rotunda (since August 2000)
CFO Brad Wolfe (since January 2010)

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

19.2%

Competitors

World Acceptance (Nasdaq: WRLD)
Cash America International (NYSE: CSH)
First Cash Financial Services (Nasdaq: FCFS)

Other Highly Rated Consumer Finance Alternatives

First Marblehead (NYSE: FMD)
Consumer Portfolio Services (Nasdaq: CPSS)
Advance America, Cash Advance Centers (NYSE: AEA)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 97% of the 519 members who have rated EZCORP believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include clickme999 and tombo615.

Late last month , clickme999 highlighted EZCORP as an easy outperform call:

Tremendous fundamentals. Price weighed down by uncertainty over future regulation. High margins, strong growth. Diversfying into Latin American markets. By all measures, debt, P/E, cashflow, margins, superior to its competitors. Lacks dividend, but management channeling profits into expansion and hopefully dividend will follow

In an earlier pitch, tombo615 agreed with that bullishness:

[EZCORP] proves to be a promising company for several reasons. Their financial statements show signs of consistent, long-term growth and profitability. Over the past five years they have substantially grown, increased their retained earnings, and paid off debt. Their strong ratios make [EZCORP] a solid choice in the uncertain world of small caps, and their relatively low-beta (compared to other widely held small caps) help to decrease the volatility that most small caps suffer from.

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