FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Downgraded by Loop Capital to Hold

Key Points

• FirstCash has been downgraded by Loop Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, with a new price target of $145.00, indicating a potential downside of 3.87% from its last close.
• Despite the downgrade, FirstCash has mixed ratings from analysts, with one Strong Buy, three Buy, and one Hold assessment, and an average target price of $143.00.
• FirstCash reported earnings of $1.79 EPS in its last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.66 EPS, with revenue of $830.62 million during that period.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Loop Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Finviz reports. They presently have a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital's price target would suggest a potential downside of 3.87% from the company's previous close.

FCFS has been the subject of several other research reports. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Capital One Financial set a $160.00 price target on FirstCash in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of FirstCash to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $143.00.

FirstCash Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of FirstCash stock opened at $150.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17 and a beta of 0.70. FirstCash has a twelve month low of $100.24 and a twelve month high of $150.92. The company has a quick ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 4.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $136.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.07.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.13. FirstCash had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 8.61%.The company had revenue of $830.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $820.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that FirstCash will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $807,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,132,237.76. This trade represents a 27.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.93, for a total transaction of $510,627.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,252,737.33. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 115,400 shares of company stock worth $16,004,237. Corporate insiders own 2.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in FirstCash by 808.0% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 227 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of FirstCash by 181.6% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 290 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. CX Institutional acquired a new position in shares of FirstCash during the first quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of FirstCash by 169.9% during the second quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 448 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is currently 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.

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