FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give FirstCash an average rating of "Buy" (2 hold, 2 buy, 2 strong-buy) with a 12‑month average price target of $183.25, notably below the recent share price of about $206.77.
• FirstCash posted an earnings beat last quarter (EPS $2.64 vs. $2.54 est.) and revenue of $1.06B (up 19.8% YoY), with sell‑side analysts projecting roughly 7.7 EPS for the year.
• Insiders sold 26,500 shares (~$4.78M) over the last quarter, while institutional ownership remains high at 80.30%, with major funds (JPMorgan, Price T. Rowe, AQR, Westfield) increasing stakes.

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Buy" from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $183.25.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FCFS shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of FirstCash from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.53, for a total transaction of $1,825,300.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 150,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,533,920.38. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.12, for a total transaction of $740,480.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 35,406 shares in the company, valued at $6,554,358.72. The trade was a 10.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 26,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,783,985 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FCFS. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in FirstCash during the third quarter worth about $66,925,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 133.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 562,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,588,000 after buying an additional 321,663 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 36.4% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 67.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 623,059 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,503,000 after buying an additional 251,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 76.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 534,571 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,687,000 after buying an additional 231,379 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company's stock.

FirstCash Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FCFS opened at $206.77 on Friday. FirstCash has a 1 year low of $119.00 and a 1 year high of $210.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 4.55 and a quick ratio of 3.36. The company's 50-day moving average is $191.70 and its 200 day moving average is $171.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87 and a beta of 0.47.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.10. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. FirstCash's quarterly revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that FirstCash will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. FirstCash's payout ratio is presently 22.64%.

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.

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