Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Buy (B) Rating for FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a Buy (B) rating for FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS), which is also supported by several other analysts including a Strong Buy rating from Jefferies Financial Group.
• FirstCash's stock has increased by 1.5% recently, with a current market price of $155.91 and a 52-week high of $158.93.
• Insider trading activity has seen CEO Rick L. Wessel and Director James H. Graves selling significant shares, reflecting a combined decrease in their holdings of about 3.32% and 27.46%, respectively.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reiterated by Weiss Ratings in a report released on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

FCFS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of FirstCash in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded FirstCash to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of FirstCash in a report on Monday, August 18th. Capital One Financial set a $160.00 price target on FirstCash in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Loop Capital cut FirstCash from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstCash presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $154.40.

FirstCash Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of FCFS opened at $155.91 on Wednesday. FirstCash has a 52-week low of $100.24 and a 52-week high of $158.93. The company has a market capitalization of $6.92 billion, a PE ratio of 23.95 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.91. The company has a quick ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 4.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.79 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $830.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $820.42 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FirstCash will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstCash

In other FirstCash news, CEO Rick L. Wessel sold 30,976 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 901,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at $125,673,152.06. This trade represents a 3.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $807,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,846 shares in the company, valued at $2,132,237.76. This represents a 27.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,500 shares of company stock valued at $15,493,610 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of FirstCash by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,499 shares of the company's stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in FirstCash by 4.7% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 36,396 shares of the company's stock worth $4,919,000 after buying an additional 1,635 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in FirstCash by 79.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,278 shares of the company's stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the period. Total Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in FirstCash during the second quarter worth approximately $94,000. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new position in FirstCash during the second quarter worth approximately $765,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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