FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Insider Sells $654,960.00 in Stock

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) insider Howard Hambleton sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.74, for a total value of $654,960.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 26,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,352,372.94. This trade represents a 13.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

FirstCash Trading Up 0.4%

FCFS traded up $0.69 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $164.60. 329,673 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 300,626. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.24 and a 52-week high of $166.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.26 billion, a PE ratio of 23.75 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $157.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.55. The company has a quick ratio of 3.72, a current ratio of 4.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.35. FirstCash had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 17.44%. The business had revenue of $904.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $845.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FCFS. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, September 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of FirstCash to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstCash presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in FirstCash by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 27,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,342,000 after buying an additional 3,354 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in FirstCash by 3.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 32,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in FirstCash by 37.8% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,627,000 after purchasing an additional 3,709 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in FirstCash by 81.1% in the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 40,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,932,000 after purchasing an additional 18,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in FirstCash by 7,233.3% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 660 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Company Profile

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.