FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on FCFS. Zacks Research lowered shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Loop Capital raised shares of FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded FirstCash from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.00.

FirstCash Stock Performance

FirstCash stock opened at $225.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $214.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $210.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a current ratio of 4.89. FirstCash has a one year low of $144.56 and a one year high of $238.93. The stock has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a PE ratio of 25.76 and a beta of 0.53.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 19.65% and a net margin of 9.42%.The company’s revenue was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that FirstCash will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. FirstCash’s payout ratio is presently 19.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstCash

In other news, CFO R. Orr sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.00, for a total value of $432,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,734 shares in the company, valued at $7,502,544. This represents a 5.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Thomas Stuart sold 5,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.63, for a total transaction of $1,147,841.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 135,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,081,935.74. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their position. 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 sold 14,098 shares of company stock valued at $3,051,281 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in FirstCash during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in FirstCash during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in FirstCash by 113.2% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in FirstCash by 490.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Company Profile

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.