FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $238.38 and last traded at $236.43, with a volume of 1047271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $225.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCFS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings cut FirstCash from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital raised FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.00.

FirstCash Trading Up 4.9%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $214.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.16. The company has a quick ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 4.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99 and a beta of 0.53.

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

FirstCash Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstCash

In related news, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 5,348 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 135,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,081,935.74. This represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $425,960.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,475,869.88. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,348 shares of company stock worth $4,492,755. Insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCFS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in FirstCash by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,761,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in FirstCash by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 389,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,866,000 after acquiring an additional 34,364 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in FirstCash by 237.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 62,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,467,000 after acquiring an additional 43,653 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in FirstCash by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of FirstCash by 67.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 20,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,821,000 after acquiring an additional 8,402 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.