Insider Selling: FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Insider Sells 4,000 Shares of Stock

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) insider Howard Hambleton sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.12, for a total transaction of $740,480.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 35,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,554,358.72. This trade represents a 10.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

FirstCash Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of FirstCash stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $184.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 365,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 278,297. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.51 and a 52 week high of $188.75. The company has a market capitalization of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of 24.81 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 4.55.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.10. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. FirstCash’s payout ratio is 22.64%.

FirstCash announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCFS. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in FirstCash during the third quarter valued at approximately $66,925,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of FirstCash by 133.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 562,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,588,000 after purchasing an additional 321,663 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,169,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,361,000 after buying an additional 312,132 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in FirstCash by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 623,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,503,000 after buying an additional 251,305 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in FirstCash by 76.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 534,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,687,000 after buying an additional 231,379 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting FirstCash this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell ~12.5%, reducing potential downward pressure from short sellers and making a short-covering bounce more likely. This mechanically supports the share price. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting FirstCash as a stabilizing holding in the Nasdaq financial sector can attract index/ETF flows and defensive buyers, bolstering demand for the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Corporate capital-return measures provide support: a previously authorized $150M share-repurchase program and a recently announced $0.42 quarterly dividend (ex-dividend date Feb 18) signal management confidence and return cash to holders.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and valuation notes are mixed — several buy ratings and a consensus “Moderate Buy” exist, but some firms have lowered ratings or urged reassessment after recent price gains; useful context but not an immediate catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling by senior executives may weigh on sentiment: COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares at ~$182.53 (~$1.83M) and CFO R. Douglas Orr sold 3,000 shares across recent filings (2,000 at $182.99 and 1,000 at $182.98). These SEC Form 4 filings reduce insider holdings and can cause short-term investor concern. Read More. — SEC filings: Read More. • Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $217.00 price target on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.40.

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.