FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $206.29 and last traded at $206.5450, with a volume of 126809 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $202.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCFS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on FirstCash from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research downgraded FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded FirstCash from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $183.25.

FirstCash Trading Up 2.4%

The stock has a market cap of $9.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $190.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 4.55 and a quick ratio of 3.36.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.64%.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $701,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 111,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,516,751.93. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.53, for a total value of $1,825,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 150,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,533,920.38. This represents a 6.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,783,985. 2.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCFS. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in FirstCash in the third quarter valued at $66,925,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in FirstCash by 133.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 562,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,588,000 after acquiring an additional 321,663 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in FirstCash by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,169,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,361,000 after acquiring an additional 312,132 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in FirstCash by 67.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 623,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,503,000 after acquiring an additional 251,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in FirstCash by 76.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 534,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,687,000 after acquiring an additional 231,379 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Company Profile

FirstCash, Inc (NASDAQ: FCFS) is a leading integrated operator of pawn stores and provider of short-term consumer loan services in the United States and Mexico. Through its retail pawn outlets, FirstCash offers collateral-based loans secured by personal property, enabling customers to access liquidity without a credit history or traditional bank account. The company also purchases, trades and sells a broad range of secondhand merchandise, including electronics, jewelry and power tools, through its network of conveniently located stores.

In addition to its pawn-broking activities, FirstCash provides unsecured consumer loans designed to meet urgent cash needs.