FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded FirstCash from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital upgraded FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. TD Cowen upped their price target on FirstCash from $240.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstCash presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.75.

FirstCash Stock Performance

Shares of FCFS stock opened at $213.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 4.89 and a quick ratio of 3.51. The company has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.07. FirstCash has a 1-year low of $146.77 and a 1-year high of $238.93.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.42% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The company’s revenue was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that FirstCash will post 11.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at FirstCash

In related news, Director James H. Graves sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.20, for a total transaction of $829,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,638,694.80. This trade represents a 23.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO R. Orr sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.00, for a total transaction of $432,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,502,544. The trade was a 5.44% 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 sold a total of 14,098 shares of company stock valued at $3,051,281 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of FirstCash

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstCash by 6.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $716,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in FirstCash by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC grew its stake in FirstCash by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its stake in FirstCash by 38.3% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstCash during the 2nd quarter worth about $247,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

About FirstCash

FirstCash Holdings, Inc operates pawn stores and related consumer financial services businesses in the United States and Latin America. Its pawn stores provide collateral-based loans to consumers, while also buying and selling secondhand merchandise such as jewelry, electronics, tools, sporting goods and other personal property.

The company serves customers through pawn locations in the United States and Mexico, as well as selected markets in Central and South America. Its operations are designed to provide short-term, non-recourse credit secured by personal property, along with retail opportunities for value-conscious consumers.