FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) from "buy" to "strong-buy"; several other firms raised price targets or ratings and the MarketBeat consensus remains a "Buy" with a $198 consensus price target.
• Q1 results beat expectations — FirstCash reported $2.69 EPS vs. $2.30 expected and $1.05 billion revenue (up 25.7% year-over-year); the company has a $9.64 billion market cap and the stock recently traded near $219.93.
• Company insiders sold shares recently (COO sold 10,000 and CFO sold 2,000; 28,000 shares sold in the last 90 days), while institutional investors own about 80.3% of the stock.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised FirstCash from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded FirstCash from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on FirstCash from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstCash has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $198.00.

FirstCash Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:FCFS opened at $219.93 on Friday. FirstCash has a 1 year low of $119.21 and a 1 year high of $227.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.56 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.77 and a quick ratio of 3.42.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.39. FirstCash had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.15%.The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that FirstCash will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.53, for a total transaction of $1,825,300.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 150,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,533,920.38. This represents a 6.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.99, for a total transaction of $365,980.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 36,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,721,954.66. The trade was a 5.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,110,085. Insiders own 2.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of FirstCash

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCFS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of FirstCash by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,946 shares of the company's stock worth $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of FirstCash by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 389,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,866,000 after buying an additional 34,364 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in FirstCash by 237.2% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 62,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,467,000 after purchasing an additional 43,653 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in FirstCash by 4.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,917,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in FirstCash by 67.4% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 20,872 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,821,000 after purchasing an additional 8,402 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstCash Company Profile

FirstCash, Inc NASDAQ: FCFS is a leading integrated operator of pawn stores and provider of short-term consumer loan services in the United States and Mexico. Through its retail pawn outlets, FirstCash offers collateral-based loans secured by personal property, enabling customers to access liquidity without a credit history or traditional bank account. The company also purchases, trades and sells a broad range of secondhand merchandise, including electronics, jewelry and power tools, through its network of conveniently located stores.

In addition to its pawn-broking activities, FirstCash provides unsecured consumer loans designed to meet urgent cash needs.

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