FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Hits New 12-Month High After Strong Earnings

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $163.16 and last traded at $158.45, with a volume of 658333 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.07.

The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.35. FirstCash had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 8.61%.The firm had revenue of $935.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $845.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

FirstCash declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 2.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital lowered FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on FirstCash from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 4th. Finally, Zacks Research raised FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FirstCash news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $455,521.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,346,314.48. This trade represents a 6.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $807,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,132,237.76. This trade represents a 27.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 119,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,690,723 in the last three months. 2.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of FirstCash

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstCash by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in FirstCash in the third quarter valued at about $219,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in FirstCash by 7.1% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,312,000 after buying an additional 971 shares during the period. Strs Ohio boosted its stake in FirstCash by 191.9% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 10,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,711,000 after buying an additional 7,100 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of FirstCash by 130.7% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstCash Stock Up 0.0%

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $151.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $138.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a current ratio of 4.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a PE ratio of 24.35 and a beta of 0.69.

About FirstCash

FirstCash Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates retail pawn stores in the United States, Mexico, and rest of Latin America. The company operates in three segments: U.S. Pawn, Latin America Pawn, and Retail POS Payment Solutions segments. Its pawn stores lend money on the collateral of pledged personal property, including jewelry, electronics, tools, appliances, sporting goods, and musical instruments; and retails merchandise acquired through collateral forfeitures on forfeited pawn loans and over-the-counter purchases of merchandise directly from customers.