Brokerages Set FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) Target Price at $198.00

Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $198.00.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of FirstCash from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th.

FirstCash Trading Up 3.0%

FCFS stock opened at $224.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 4.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $216.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.10. FirstCash has a 52 week low of $119.21 and a 52 week high of $235.97. The company has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.18 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.39. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 18.68%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. FirstCash’s revenue was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstCash will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is 21.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstCash

In other FirstCash news, SVP Raul Ramos sold 6,835 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.23, for a total transaction of $1,539,447.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 20,400 shares in the company, valued at $4,594,692. This represents a 25.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.29, for a total transaction of $454,580.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,734 shares in the company, valued at $8,121,980.86. The trade was a 5.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold a total of 27,500 shares of company stock valued at $6,243,104 over the last three months. 2.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Grp LLC grew its stake in FirstCash by 43,752.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Grp LLC now owns 9,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,731,000 after buying an additional 9,188 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in FirstCash by 20.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in FirstCash by 19.8% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 45,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,488,000 after buying an additional 7,475 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in FirstCash by 34.0% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 5,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $959,000 after buying an additional 1,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC grew its stake in FirstCash by 15.6% during the first quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 70,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,297,000 after buying an additional 9,530 shares in the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.