FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Separately, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $137.00 price target on shares of FirstCash in a report on Wednesday, February 19th.

FirstCash Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of FCFS opened at $125.78 on Friday. FirstCash has a 52-week low of $100.24 and a 52-week high of $135.57. The company has a quick ratio of 3.15, a current ratio of 4.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm's fifty day moving average is $126.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.23. The stock has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95 and a beta of 0.62.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.32. FirstCash had a net margin of 7.64% and a return on equity of 14.99%. The company had revenue of $836.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $837.11 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that FirstCash will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of FirstCash

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in FirstCash by 808.0% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 227 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in FirstCash in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. CX Institutional purchased a new stake in FirstCash in the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in FirstCash by 167.5% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 452 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in FirstCash by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 454 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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