Canaccord Genuity Group Begins Coverage on FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS)

Key Points

• FirstCash has been upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by Canaccord Genuity Group, indicating heightened confidence in the stock's performance.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings showed EPS of $1.79, surpassing estimates, while revenue reached $830.62 million, reflecting strong growth.
• Over the last three months, insiders sold a total of 111,500 shares, which represents a significant shift in ownership dynamics within the company.

Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on shares of FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 31.72% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded FirstCash to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded FirstCash from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Capital One Financial set a $160.00 price target on FirstCash in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded FirstCash from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $154.40.

FirstCash Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of FCFS opened at $151.84 on Tuesday. FirstCash has a 52 week low of $100.24 and a 52 week high of $158.93. 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 market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32 and a beta of 0.69. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $142.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $132.68.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. FirstCash had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 8.61%.The firm had revenue of $830.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $820.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FirstCash will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FirstCash news, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $807,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,132,237.76. This trade represents a 27.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rick L. Wessel sold 30,976 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.33, for a total value of $4,315,886.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 901,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $125,673,152.06. This trade represents a 3.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,500 shares of company stock valued at $15,493,610 over the last quarter. 2.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 1.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,236 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,911,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 8.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Freedom Day Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the first quarter valued at $1,524,000. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the first quarter valued at $283,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 18.2% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 11,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,386,000 after buying an additional 1,771 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company's stock.

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.