Why Paychex, Inc. (PAYX), Ezcorp Inc (EZPW) and Government Properties Income Trust (GOV) Are 3 of Today’s Worst Stocks

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Investors got over Tuesday’s weakness pretty easily on Wednesday, even without any specific catalyst to convince stocks were worth buying. Despite May’s 0.8% drop in home sales and last week’s unexpected — albeit slight — growth in the country’s crude stockpile, the S&P 500 mustered a gain of 0.88% to end the session at 2,440.69.

Why Paychex, Inc. (PAYX), Ezcorp Inc (EZPW) and Government Properties Income Trust (GOV) Are 3 of Today's Worst StocksNot every name jumped on board the bullish train though. Ezcorp Inc (NASDAQ:EZPW), Government Properties Income Trust (NASDAQ:GOV) and Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) each found a way to lose ground.

Here’s a closer look at what investors need to know.

Paychex, Inc. (PAYX)

The good news is, human resources service provider Paychex managed to top its earnings and revenue estimates for the recently completed fourth-fiscal quarter. The bad news is, its guidance for the year that just got underway was weaker than owners of PAYX had been expecting.

Investors chose to see the glass as half-empty.

For the quarter ending in May, Paychex earned 54 cents per share versus estimates for a profit of 53 cents per share of PAYX. Sales of $798.6 million were just a tad better than the forecasted $798 million. Going forward though, Paychex only sees revenue growth of 5% this year, driving earnings growth of between 7% and 8%. Pros were collectively expecting growth of 6% and 8.2%, respectively.

PAYX ended the day down 1.6%.

Ezcorp Inc (EZPW)

News of a new convertible-debt offering isn’t always a kiss of death for a stock. Sometimes a company has a compelling plan for the use of proceeds. Ezcorp shareholders don’t think that’s the case this time around though. EZPW shares fell 15.4% following news that the organization was offering $125 million worth of convertible senior notes.

The proceeds from the sale will primarily be used to repay existing debt, essentially serving as a refinancing. At a $125 million in convertible debt though, the issuance amounts to roughly a fourth of the company’s entire market cap before today’s tumble. Ezcorp investors may have been a little surprised the organization — which has been losing money since 2014 — still isn’t in a better financial position.

Government Properties Income Trust (GOV)

Last but not least, usually an acquisition is at least a bullish event for one of the stocks, as the offering price tends to be at premium levels. Sometimes, for the deals the market really likes, stocks of both parties rise as investors view a pairing as a case where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

That wasn’t the case today, however, when REIT Government Properties Income Trust announced it would be acquiring First Potomac Realty Trust (NYSE:FPO) for $1.4 billion … a deal that includes the debt First Potomac presently has on its books.

FPO shares fell 2.5% on the news, suggesting those investors may have been hoping for better. The real jaw-dropper was the 11.7% tumble GOV shares took though, indicating those investors think Government Properties either overpaid, or would have been better served altogether by not doing the deal.

As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/06/why-paychex-inc-payx-ezcorp-inc-ezpw-and-government-properties-income-trust-gov-are-3-of-todays-worst-stocks/.

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