FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research raised FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on FirstCash from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $181.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Loop Capital downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstCash in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $167.00.

FirstCash Price Performance

Shares of FCFS traded down $1.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $160.73. 170,721 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 307,332. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $152.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.59. FirstCash has a 12-month low of $100.24 and a 12-month high of $166.08. 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 company has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69 and a beta of 0.66.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $935.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $845.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that FirstCash will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid 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 yield of 1.0%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Rick L. Wessel sold 69,024 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.49, for a total transaction of $9,559,133.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 932,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,205,353.42. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 4,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.64, for a total value of $638,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 93,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,937,035.88. This trade represents a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 113,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,883,363 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstCash during the third quarter worth $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its holdings in FirstCash by 127.8% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in FirstCash by 70.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in FirstCash by 181.6% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.