FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

FCFS has been the subject of several other reports. 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. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of FirstCash from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.00.

FirstCash Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of FCFS opened at $216.95 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $215.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77 and a beta of 0.53. FirstCash has a 52 week low of $146.08 and a 52 week high of $238.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a current ratio of 4.89.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 19.65% and a net margin of 9.42%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that FirstCash will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James H. Graves sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.20, for a total value of $829,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,638,694.80. This represents a 23.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Thomas Stuart sold 5,348 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.63, for a total value of $1,147,841.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 135,498 shares in the company, valued at $29,081,935.74. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 14,098 shares of company stock valued at $3,051,281 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FCFS. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in FirstCash in the first quarter worth $29,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of FirstCash during the second quarter worth $34,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 113.2% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of FirstCash by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About FirstCash

FirstCash, Inc (NASDAQ: FCFS) is a specialty consumer-finance and retail company focused primarily on pawn-based lending. Through its pawn stores, the company provides short-term, non-recourse loans secured by personal property, allowing customers to obtain cash without traditional credit underwriting. Customers may repay the loan and reclaim the pledged item or forfeit the collateral under applicable regulations.

FirstCash also generates revenue by selling merchandise obtained through forfeited pawn loans and by purchasing used goods directly from consumers.