FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $198.00.

A number of brokerages have 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. Weiss Ratings cut FirstCash from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen boosted their target price 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 lowered FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd.

FirstCash Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FCFS opened at $218.41 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $221.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.06. FirstCash has a 52 week low of $119.21 and a 52 week high of $235.97. The company has a quick ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 4.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.37 and a beta of 0.53.

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

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. FirstCash’s payout ratio is 21.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total value of $2,284,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 140,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,181,902.54. This trade represents a 6.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Raul Ramos sold 6,835 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.23, for a total transaction of $1,539,447.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 20,400 shares in the company, valued at $4,594,692. This trade represents a 25.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,500 shares of company stock valued at $6,243,104. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in FirstCash by 133.8% in the 4th 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 lifted its position in shares of FirstCash by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,169,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,361,000 after purchasing an additional 312,132 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstCash by 67.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 623,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,503,000 after purchasing an additional 251,305 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 76.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 534,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,687,000 after purchasing an additional 231,379 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 280.5% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 305,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,454,000 after purchasing an additional 225,466 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.