Head-To-Head Comparison: FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) versus SLM (NASDAQ:SLMBP)

SLM (NASDAQ:SLMBP) and FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares SLM and FirstCash’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SLM	N/A	N/A	N/A
FirstCash	9.42%	19.65%	8.38%

Dividends

SLM pays an annual dividend of $7.37 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.8%. FirstCash pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. FirstCash pays out 19.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. FirstCash has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for SLM and FirstCash, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SLM	0	1	2	0	2.67
FirstCash	0	1	4	0	2.80

SLM currently has a consensus target price of $40.00, indicating a potential downside of 46.62%. FirstCash has a consensus target price of $249.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.95%. Given FirstCash’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe FirstCash is more favorable than SLM.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SLM and FirstCash”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SLM	$1.96 billion	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FirstCash	$4.12 billion	2.24	$330.38 million	$8.76	24.30

FirstCash has higher revenue and earnings than SLM.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

80.3% of FirstCash shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of FirstCash shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

FirstCash beats SLM on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SLM

SLM Corporation, through its subsidiaries, originates and services private education loans to students and their families to finance the cost of their education in the United States. It is also involved in the provision of retail deposit accounts, including certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and high-yield savings accounts; and interest-bearing omnibus accounts. The company was formerly known as New BLC Corporation and changed its name to SLM Corporation in December 2013. SLM Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Newark, Delaware.

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. The company also provides retail POS payment solutions, which focuses on LTO products and facilitating other retail financing payment options across the network of traditional and e-commerce merchant partners. It serves cash and credit-constrained consumers. The company was formerly known as FirstCash, Inc and changed its name to FirstCash Holdings, Inc. in December 2021. FirstCash Holdings, Inc was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.