FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Sets New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• FirstCash Holdings, Inc.'s stock reached a new 52-week high of $149.59, reflecting strong trading activity with 314,452 shares exchanged.
• Analysts have shown positive sentiment towards FirstCash, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a target price of $142.33, although one firm downgraded its rating.
• The company has recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.38 to $0.42 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.1%.

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $149.59 and last traded at $149.48, with a volume of 314452 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $147.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCFS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of FirstCash to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.33.

FirstCash Price Performance

The business's 50 day moving average price is $135.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 4.21 and a quick ratio of 3.12.

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

FirstCash Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstCash

In other FirstCash news, CEO Rick L. Wessel sold 30,976 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.33, for a total transaction of $4,315,886.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 901,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $125,673,152.06. This represents a 3.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $807,360.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,132,237.76. This represents a 27.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 109,900 shares of company stock valued at $15,193,007. Insiders own 14.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of FirstCash

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCFS. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in FirstCash during the first quarter valued at approximately $55,340,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of FirstCash by 1,350.3% in the second quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 250,900 shares of the company's stock worth $33,907,000 after purchasing an additional 233,600 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of FirstCash by 349.3% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 294,281 shares of the company's stock worth $30,488,000 after purchasing an additional 228,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the fourth quarter worth $21,701,000. 80.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstCash Company Profile

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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