FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) CEO Rick Wessel Sells 20,000 Shares of Stock

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) CEO Rick Wessel sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.39, for a total transaction of $3,127,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 866,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,587,314.98. The trade was a 2.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

FirstCash Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:FCFS traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $156.59. The stock had a trading volume of 212,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 303,661. The company has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $154.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.01. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.24 and a 12 month high of $166.08. 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) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $904.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $845.28 million. FirstCash had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 8.61%.The firm’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.24%.

FirstCash declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the third quarter worth $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in FirstCash by 127.8% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in FirstCash during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of FirstCash during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 70.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 220 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCFS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of FirstCash to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen raised FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Loop Capital downgraded FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, September 5th. Capital One Financial set a $160.00 price objective on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised FirstCash from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstCash presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

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.