FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Hits New 12-Month High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) reached 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $148.07.

The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.35. FirstCash had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 16.63%. 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 business posted $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

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

FirstCash declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of FirstCash in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of FirstCash to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of FirstCash from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.00.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other news, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 27.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Rick L. Wessel sold 30,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.33, for a total transaction of $4,315,886.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 901,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,673,152.06. The trade was a 3.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 119,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,690,723 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCFS. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in FirstCash by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in FirstCash in the 2nd quarter worth about $336,000. Freedom Day Solutions LLC bought a new stake in FirstCash in the 1st quarter worth about $1,524,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in FirstCash by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in FirstCash in the 1st quarter worth about $283,000. 80.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstCash Stock Up 0.0%

The company has a current ratio of 4.21, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35 and a beta of 0.69.

FirstCash Company Profile

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.