FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Trading Up 4.2% – Here’s Why

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) was up 4.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $127.00 and last traded at $127.22. Approximately 321,585 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 25% from the average daily volume of 258,146 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $137.00 target price on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

FirstCash Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $115.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 4.14 and a quick ratio of 3.15. The stock has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47 and a beta of 0.58.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. FirstCash had a return on equity of 14.99% and a net margin of 7.64%. On average, research analysts expect that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. FirstCash’s payout ratio is 26.53%.

Insider Activity at FirstCash

In related news, major shareholder Douglas Richard Rippel sold 300,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total transaction of $34,029,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,431,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $502,706,900.67. This trade represents a 6.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.35, for a total value of $226,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 100,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,399,269.45. The trade was a 1.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 14.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of FirstCash

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FCFS. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in FirstCash in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of FirstCash by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 986.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 565 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 4th quarter worth $74,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in FirstCash in the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

About FirstCash

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.