Financial Survey: SLM (NASDAQ:SLMBP) vs. FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS)

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) and SLM (NASDAQ:SLMBP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares FirstCash and SLM’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
FirstCash	9.42%	19.65%	8.38%
SLM	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

FirstCash pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. SLM pays an annual dividend of $7.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.8%. FirstCash pays out 19.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. FirstCash has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for FirstCash and SLM, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
FirstCash	0	1	4	0	2.80
SLM	0	1	2	0	2.67

FirstCash currently has a consensus target price of $249.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.95%. SLM has a consensus target price of $40.00, suggesting a potential downside of 46.62%. Given FirstCash’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe FirstCash is more favorable than SLM.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

80.3% of FirstCash shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of FirstCash shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares FirstCash and SLM”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
FirstCash	$4.12 billion	2.24	$330.38 million	$8.76	24.30
SLM	$1.96 billion	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

FirstCash has higher revenue and earnings than SLM.

Summary

FirstCash beats SLM on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About FirstCash

FirstCash Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates retail pawn stores in the United States, Mexico, and rest of Latin America. The company operates in three segments: U.S. Pawn, Latin America Pawn, and Retail POS Payment Solutions segments. Its pawn stores lend money on the collateral of pledged personal property, including jewelry, electronics, tools, appliances, sporting goods, and musical instruments; and retails merchandise acquired through collateral forfeitures on forfeited pawn loans and over-the-counter purchases of merchandise directly from customers. The company also provides retail POS payment solutions, which focuses on LTO products and facilitating other retail financing payment options across the network of traditional and e-commerce merchant partners. It serves cash and credit-constrained consumers. The company was formerly known as FirstCash, Inc and changed its name to FirstCash Holdings, Inc. in December 2021. FirstCash Holdings, Inc was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

About SLM

SLM Corporation, through its subsidiaries, originates and services private education loans to students and their families to finance the cost of their education in the United States. It is also involved in the provision of retail deposit accounts, including certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and high-yield savings accounts; and interest-bearing omnibus accounts. The company was formerly known as New BLC Corporation and changed its name to SLM Corporation in December 2013. SLM Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Newark, Delaware.