FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Sees Large Volume Increase

Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 244,281 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 20% from the previous session’s volume of 203,490 shares.The stock last traded at $117.67 and had previously closed at $132.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens upped their price objective on FirstCash from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen raised FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th.

FirstCash Stock Down 13.2 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $122.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 25.10 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 3.89 and a quick ratio of 2.96.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.79 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $852.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $859.23 million. FirstCash had a return on equity of 14.42% and a net margin of 6.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.25, for a total value of $348,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 94,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,010,618.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other FirstCash news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.25, for a total transaction of $348,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 94,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,010,618.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 19,020 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.34, for a total value of $2,231,806.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,997,680 shares in the company, valued at $703,767,771.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 329,984 shares of company stock worth $38,850,386. Insiders own 18.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in FirstCash by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 17,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,179,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 9,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, First Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 1st quarter worth approximately $224,000. 80.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.