FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $107.94, but opened at $110.51. FirstCash shares last traded at $110.51, with a volume of 425 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FCFS shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $137.00 price target on the stock.

FirstCash Stock Down 0.8 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.12. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $837.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $843.94 million. FirstCash had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 14.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. FirstCash’s payout ratio is 28.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.68, for a total value of $211,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,375,401.20. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 7,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.98, for a total transaction of $877,773.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,735,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $568,206,443.14. This represents a 0.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,290 shares of company stock worth $1,565,853. Corporate insiders own 14.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 9,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 17,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

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.