FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) Short Interest Update

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 853,400 shares, a decline of 9.2% from the August 31st total of 939,500 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 299,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of FirstCash in a report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.00.

FirstCash Price Performance

FCFS stock traded down $0.61 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $114.19. 156,894 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 244,133. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 3.04 and a current ratio of 4.03. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $115.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.15. FirstCash has a 52-week low of $97.81 and a 52-week high of $133.64.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $831.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.87 million. FirstCash had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 14.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that FirstCash will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. This is a boost from FirstCash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. FirstCash’s payout ratio is presently 29.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstCash

In other news, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 2,864 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.01, for a total value of $343,708.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,743,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $569,226,511.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.18, for a total value of $214,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 90,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,722,833.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 2,864 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.01, for a total transaction of $343,708.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,743,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $569,226,511.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,154 shares of company stock worth $1,912,562. 14.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FCFS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of FirstCash by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,062,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $440,332,000 after buying an additional 219,983 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in FirstCash by 66.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 446,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,869,000 after purchasing an additional 177,698 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in FirstCash by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 575,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,352,000 after purchasing an additional 148,502 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in FirstCash by 753.4% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 161,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,560,000 after purchasing an additional 142,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in FirstCash by 1,216.3% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 105,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,430,000 after purchasing an additional 97,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.