FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Upgraded to Buy at Loop Capital

Loop Capital upgraded shares of FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $140.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $125.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on FCFS. Stephens upped their price target on FirstCash from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of FirstCash from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th.

FirstCash Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of FCFS opened at $115.35 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $122.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.95. FirstCash has a 12-month low of $88.05 and a 12-month high of $133.64.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.05. FirstCash had a net margin of 7.23% and a return on equity of 14.73%. The company had revenue of $836.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $846.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstCash will post 6.79 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.25, for a total value of $348,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 94,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,010,618.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 3,000 shares of FirstCash 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 94,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,010,618.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 25,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.10, for a total value of $3,014,884.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,946,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $690,405,948.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 329,984 shares of company stock valued at $38,850,386 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 18.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in FirstCash by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 8,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 985 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of FirstCash by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 841 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in FirstCash by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 46,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,021,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in FirstCash by 1.9% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About FirstCash

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.