FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Stock Price Down 7.9% – Time to Sell?

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)’s share price was down 7.9% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $211.71 and last traded at $211.1930. Approximately 285,466 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 12% from the average daily volume of 324,229 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on FCFS shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on FirstCash from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings cut FirstCash from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.00.

FirstCash Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $214.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 4.77. The firm has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of 26.32 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.15%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.05%.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other FirstCash news, Director Paula K. Garrett sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.40, for a total value of $326,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,427,013.60. This trade represents a 18.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total value of $2,284,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 140,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,181,902.54. The trade was a 6.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold 27,500 shares of company stock worth $6,243,104 in the last quarter. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of FirstCash

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in FirstCash during the 3rd quarter worth $66,925,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of FirstCash by 133.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 562,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,588,000 after purchasing an additional 321,663 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in FirstCash by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,169,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,361,000 after acquiring an additional 312,132 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in FirstCash by 67.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 623,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,503,000 after acquiring an additional 251,305 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in FirstCash by 76.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 534,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,687,000 after acquiring an additional 231,379 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.