Thomas Brent Stuart Sells 5,348 Shares of FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Stock

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 5,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.63, for a total transaction of $1,147,841.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 135,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,081,935.74. This represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

FirstCash Price Performance

Shares of FCFS stock opened at $211.98 on Thursday. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.31 and a 1 year high of $235.97. The company has a current ratio of 4.89, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $214.32 and its 200-day moving average is $206.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.20 and a beta of 0.53.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.11. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.42% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. FirstCash’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. FirstCash’s payout ratio is presently 19.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on FCFS. Weiss Ratings upgraded FirstCash from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Loop Capital raised FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstCash presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,088,429,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in FirstCash during the second quarter valued at approximately $248,059,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in FirstCash during the second quarter valued at approximately $69,779,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in FirstCash by 133.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 312,132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.