Wall Street Zen Upgrades FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) to "Strong-Buy"

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

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

FirstCash Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FCFS traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $131.94. 257,592 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 281,408. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.03 and a beta of 0.62. FirstCash has a 52-week low of $100.24 and a 52-week high of $135.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 4.14 and a quick ratio of 3.15. The company's 50 day moving average price is $126.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.69.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 32,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,252,737.33. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.93% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Xponance Inc. raised its position in FirstCash by 1.6% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,552 shares of the company's stock worth $668,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC raised its position in FirstCash by 1.6% during the first quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,757 shares of the company's stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in FirstCash by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,370 shares of the company's stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in FirstCash by 1.1% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 9,315 shares of the company's stock worth $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in FirstCash by 0.9% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,900 shares of the company's stock worth $1,311,000 after acquiring an additional 100 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.