FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy”

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Sunday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on FCFS. Zacks Research raised FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of FirstCash from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.00.

FirstCash Stock Performance

FirstCash stock opened at $227.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $9.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.53 and a beta of 0.52. FirstCash has a 1-year low of $119.21 and a 1-year high of $230.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $199.64 and a 200-day moving average of $176.90.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.39. FirstCash had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.15%.The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. FirstCash’s revenue was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that FirstCash will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is 21.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.99, for a total transaction of $365,980.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 36,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,721,954.66. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.12, for a total transaction of $740,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 35,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,554,358.72. This represents a 10.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 18,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,440,840. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in FirstCash by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of FirstCash by 9.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 389,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,866,000 after buying an additional 34,364 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 43,653 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings 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 worth $2,821,000 after buying an additional 8,402 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

About FirstCash

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.