FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• FirstCash Holdings, Inc. reached a new 52-week high of $138.43 with a market cap of $6.15 billion and a PE ratio of 21.28.
• Equities research analysts have adjusted their ratings, with Wall Street Zen lowering the stock from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating, and Capital One Financial setting a price target of $160.00.
• The company recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.38 to $0.42, with a yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 23.35%.

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $138.43 and last traded at $138.42, with a volume of 78397 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $136.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Capital One Financial set a $160.00 price objective on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th.

FirstCash Trading Down 2.0%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $132.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 4.21, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $830.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $820.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This is a boost from FirstCash's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. FirstCash's payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

Insider Activity at FirstCash

In related news, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $807,360.00. Following the sale, the director owned 15,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,132,237.76. This trade represents a 27.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 sale, the insider directly owned 32,481 shares in the company, valued at $4,252,737.33. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 14.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of FirstCash

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCFS. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 76.1% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 1,303,533 shares of the company's stock worth $135,046,000 after acquiring an additional 563,265 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in FirstCash during the 1st quarter valued at about $55,340,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 26,021.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 259,651 shares of the company's stock worth $31,241,000 after purchasing an additional 258,657 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its position in FirstCash by 1,350.3% during the 2nd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 250,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,907,000 after purchasing an additional 233,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 349.3% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 294,281 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,488,000 after acquiring an additional 228,784 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company's stock.

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.