FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (FCFS) – What Are Analysts Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $247.50.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of FirstCash from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of FirstCash from $242.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded FirstCash from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital raised FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $425,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,406 shares in the company, valued at $6,475,869.88. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director James H. Graves sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.20, for a total value of $829,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,929 shares in the company, valued at $2,638,694.80. The trade was a 23.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 14,098 shares of company stock valued at $3,051,281 over the last 90 days. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of FirstCash

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in FirstCash in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in FirstCash during the second quarter worth $34,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in FirstCash by 113.2% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in FirstCash during the third quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 29.6% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstCash Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:FCFS opened at $194.51 on Wednesday. FirstCash has a 1-year low of $146.95 and a 1-year high of $238.93. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $211.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.14. The company has a current ratio of 4.81, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 0.59.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 9.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.86 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that FirstCash will post 11.03 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 28th that allows the company to buy back $200 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a positive change from FirstCash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. FirstCash’s payout ratio is 18.20%.

About FirstCash

FirstCash Holdings, Inc is a specialty financial services and retail company that operates pawn stores in the United States and Mexico. Through its pawn operations, the company provides short-term, collateral-backed loans to consumers who pledge personal property as security. Customers can reclaim their pledged items by repaying the loan and applicable fees within the required period.

The company also generates revenue by selling merchandise that has been forfeited on pawn loans or acquired through other purchasing activities.