FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Sets New 52-Week High - Here's Why

Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $134.18 and last traded at $133.46, with a volume of 467768 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on FCFS. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $137.00 price target on shares of FirstCash in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of FirstCash from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday.

FirstCash Stock Up 0.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 4.14 and a quick ratio of 3.15.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $836.42 million during 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. FirstCash's payout ratio is presently 24.32%.

Insider Activity at FirstCash

In other FirstCash news, major shareholder Douglas Richard Rippel sold 300,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total transaction of $34,029,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,431,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $502,706,900.67. This represents a 6.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.35, for a total value of $226,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,399,269.45. This trade represents a 1.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 14.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of FirstCash

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCFS. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of FirstCash by 1.6% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,552 shares of the company's stock worth $668,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC raised its position in shares of FirstCash by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,757 shares of the company's stock valued at $693,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,370 shares of the company's stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of FirstCash by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 9,315 shares of the company's stock worth $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is owned by 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.