FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on FCFS. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on FirstCash from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded FirstCash from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.00.

FirstCash Stock Up 1.2%

FCFS opened at $218.22 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $197.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 4.77. The company has a market cap of $9.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.35 and a beta of 0.47. FirstCash has a one year low of $119.21 and a one year high of $227.26.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.39. FirstCash had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.15%.The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. FirstCash’s quarterly revenue was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that FirstCash will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FirstCash news, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.53, for a total value of $1,825,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 150,846 shares in the company, valued at $27,533,920.38. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $701,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 111,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,516,751.93. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,500 shares of company stock worth $4,783,985. 2.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FCFS. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstCash in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstCash in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 127.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in FirstCash by 490.9% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Community Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in FirstCash during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

About FirstCash

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.