FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $217.00 price target on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of FirstCash in a report on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.40.

FirstCash Price Performance

FCFS opened at $183.20 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $165.41 and a 200-day moving average of $154.78. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 4.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. FirstCash has a 12-month low of $109.51 and a 12-month high of $188.75.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 9.02%.FirstCash’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that FirstCash will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.64%.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other FirstCash news, Director Randel G. Owen sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.20, for a total transaction of $228,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,164,482.20. This represents a 16.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.97, for a total transaction of $1,599,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 127,724 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,432,008.28. This represents a 7.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,500 shares of company stock worth $8,150,640. 14.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of FirstCash in the third quarter worth about $66,925,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in FirstCash by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 623,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,503,000 after buying an additional 251,305 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in FirstCash by 76.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 534,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,687,000 after buying an additional 231,379 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 280.5% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 305,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,454,000 after buying an additional 225,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 42.6% during the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 611,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,577,000 after buying an additional 182,451 shares during the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is currently 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.