FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Upgraded by Loop Capital to “Buy”

Loop Capital upgraded shares of FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $140.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $125.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Stephens upped their price target on shares of FirstCash from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised shares of FirstCash from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th.

FirstCash Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ FCFS opened at $114.73 on Monday. FirstCash has a 52-week low of $88.05 and a 52-week high of $133.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $121.93 and a 200-day moving average of $115.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.05. FirstCash had a net margin of 7.23% and a return on equity of 14.73%. The company had revenue of $836.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $846.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that FirstCash will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. FirstCash’s payout ratio is currently 27.29%.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other news, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 19,020 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.34, for a total transaction of $2,231,806.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,997,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $703,767,771.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other FirstCash news, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 19,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.34, for a total value of $2,231,806.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,997,680 shares in the company, valued at $703,767,771.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.25, for a total transaction of $348,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 94,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,010,618.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 329,984 shares of company stock valued at $38,850,386. Insiders own 18.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pullen Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in FirstCash in the first quarter worth approximately $1,031,000. Mission Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in FirstCash in the 1st quarter worth approximately $230,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in FirstCash by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 46,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,924,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in FirstCash in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in FirstCash by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 5,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. 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.