FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) to Repurchase $200 million in Outstanding Shares

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 28th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $200 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital raised shares of FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of FirstCash from $242.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on FirstCash from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstCash has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.50.

FirstCash Stock Performance

Shares of FCFS stock opened at $181.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 4.81. FirstCash has a one year low of $146.95 and a one year high of $238.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $213.41 and its 200 day moving average is $205.87.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that FirstCash will post 11.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This is a positive change from FirstCash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is 19.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James Graves sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.20, for a total transaction of $829,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,638,694.80. This represents a 23.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas Stuart sold 5,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.63, for a total value of $1,147,841.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 135,498 shares in the company, valued at $29,081,935.74. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,098 shares of company stock valued at $3,051,281. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

About FirstCash

FirstCash Holdings, Inc is a specialty financial services and retail company that operates pawn stores in the United States and Mexico. Through its pawn operations, the company provides short-term, collateral-backed loans to consumers who pledge personal property as security. Customers can reclaim their pledged items by repaying the loan and applicable fees within the required period.

The company also generates revenue by selling merchandise that has been forfeited on pawn loans or acquired through other purchasing activities.