FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded FirstCash from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $249.00.

FirstCash Stock Performance

FCFS opened at $225.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.76 and a beta of 0.53. FirstCash has a 1-year low of $144.56 and a 1-year high of $238.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 4.89 and a quick ratio of 3.51.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.11. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.42% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that FirstCash will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. FirstCash’s payout ratio is 19.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstCash

In related news, CFO R. Orr sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.00, for a total value of $432,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,502,544. This trade represents a 5.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Howard Hambleton sold 2,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $425,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,475,869.88. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 14,098 shares of company stock valued at $3,051,281 over the last quarter. 2.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCFS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in FirstCash by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,761,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in FirstCash by 9.7% during the first 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 period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in FirstCash by 237.2% during the first 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 during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in FirstCash by 4.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of FirstCash by 67.4% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 20,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,821,000 after acquiring an additional 8,402 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

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.