FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) COO Thomas Brent Stuart Sells 10,000 Shares

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 140,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,181,902.54. This trade represents a 6.63% decrease in their position. The transaction 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.

FirstCash Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:FCFS traded up $0.90 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $225.86. 276,353 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 322,858. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.21 and a twelve month high of $235.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.77 and a quick ratio of 3.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $204.67 and a 200 day moving average of $180.55. The stock has a market cap of $9.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in FirstCash by 96.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 240,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,091,000 after acquiring an additional 117,788 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in FirstCash by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,096,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $649,040,000 after acquiring an additional 83,113 shares during the period. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in FirstCash in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,361,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new stake in FirstCash in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,463,000. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in FirstCash in the 4th quarter valued at $1,857,000. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on FirstCash from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen cut FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings cut FirstCash from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.00.

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.