FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Sets New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• FirstCash Holdings has reached a new 12-month high with its stock price soaring to $150.92, showing significant movement in trading volume.
• Analysts have mixed reviews on FirstCash, with ratings ranging from "strong-buy" to "hold," and an average price target of $143.00.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.42 per share, indicating potential growth and returning value to shareholders.

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $150.92 and last traded at $150.01, with a volume of 51242 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $148.82.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital lowered FirstCash from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised FirstCash to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $160.00 target price on FirstCash in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstCash currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $143.00.

FirstCash Stock Performance

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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $139.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04 and a beta of 0.70.

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

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from FirstCash's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.40, for a total transaction of $366,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 41,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,109,857.60. The trade was a 5.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 15,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,132,237.76. The trade was a 27.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,500 shares of company stock valued at $15,493,610 over the last quarter. 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. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in FirstCash during the 1st quarter valued at $55,340,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in FirstCash by 26,021.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 259,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,241,000 after purchasing an additional 258,657 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake 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 during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC raised its stake in FirstCash by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 611,045 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,577,000 after purchasing an additional 182,451 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 85.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 371,754 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,239,000 after acquiring an additional 171,708 shares in the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is 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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