FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Stock Price Up 4.2% – Should You Buy?

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)’s share price traded up 4.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $127.00 and last traded at $127.22. 321,585 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 25% from the average session volume of 258,146 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $137.00 target price on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th.

FirstCash Trading Up 4.3 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.03. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a current ratio of 4.14.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. FirstCash had a net margin of 7.64% and a return on equity of 14.99%. On average, equities research analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Douglas Richard Rippel sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total value of $34,029,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,431,869 shares in the company, valued at $502,706,900.67. This represents a 6.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.35, for a total transaction of $226,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 100,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,399,269.45. This trade represents a 1.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 14.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCFS. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstCash by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 447 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 76.4% during the 4th quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 16,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after buying an additional 7,280 shares in the last quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstCash during the 4th quarter valued at $248,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in FirstCash by 68.7% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 182,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,921,000 after buying an additional 74,349 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of FirstCash by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 66,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,900,000 after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.