Short Interest in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) Grows By 47.1%

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 801,793 shares, a growth of 47.1% from the February 26th total of 544,966 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 316,777 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

FirstCash Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:FCFS traded down $1.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $190.88. 347,161 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 338,865. The company has a current ratio of 4.55, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $183.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.47. FirstCash has a 52 week low of $116.66 and a 52 week high of $199.60. The company has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73 and a beta of 0.46.

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

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. FirstCash’s payout ratio is currently 22.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.53, for a total transaction of $1,825,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 150,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,533,920.38. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.99, for a total value of $365,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 36,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,721,954.66. This represents a 5.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,783,985. Company insiders own 2.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in FirstCash by 4.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 389,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,866,000 after buying an additional 34,364 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 237.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 62,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,467,000 after acquiring an additional 43,653 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 71,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,676,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of FirstCash by 21.3% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FCFS. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstCash in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.25.

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.