FirstCash (FCFS) Competitors

CDW (NASDAQ:CDW) and FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) are both retail companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.

Does the media favor CDW or FCFS?

In the previous week, CDW had 11 more articles in the media than FirstCash. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for CDW and 9 mentions for FirstCash. FirstCash's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat CDW's score of 1.33 indicating that FirstCash is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
CDW	17 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
FirstCash	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CDW or FCFS a better dividend stock?

CDW pays an annual dividend of $2.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. FirstCash pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. CDW pays out 31.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. FirstCash pays out 25.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. CDW has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years and FirstCash has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years. CDW is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of CDW or FCFS?

93.2% of CDW shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.3% of FirstCash shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of CDW shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 14.8% of FirstCash shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, CDW or FCFS?

CDW has higher revenue and earnings than FirstCash. CDW is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than FirstCash, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CDW	$21.00B	1.04	$1.08B	$8.05	20.64
FirstCash	$3.39B	1.91	$258.82M	$6.51	22.38

Is CDW or FCFS more profitable?

FirstCash has a net margin of 8.61% compared to CDW's net margin of 4.92%. CDW's return on equity of 53.63% beat FirstCash's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CDW	4.92%	53.63%	8.58%
FirstCash	8.61%	16.63%	7.70%

Which has more volatility & risk, CDW or FCFS?

CDW has a beta of 0.98, suggesting that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FirstCash has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate CDW or FCFS?

CDW currently has a consensus target price of $202.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.58%. FirstCash has a consensus target price of $143.00, indicating a potential downside of 1.85%. Given CDW's higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe CDW is more favorable than FirstCash.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CDW	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
FirstCash	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

CDW beats FirstCash on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.