Critical Comparison: Agritek (OTCMKTS:AGTK) & FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS)

Agritek (OTCMKTS:AGTK) and FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.3% of FirstCash shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.9% of Agritek shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.8% of FirstCash shares are owned by company 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.

Risk and Volatility

Agritek has a beta of -0.33, meaning that its stock price is 133% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FirstCash has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Agritek and FirstCash, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Agritek	0	0	0	0	0.00
FirstCash	0	2	4	1	2.86

FirstCash has a consensus price target of $169.40, suggesting a potential downside of 6.75%. Given FirstCash’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe FirstCash is more favorable than Agritek.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Agritek and FirstCash”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Agritek	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FirstCash	$3.66 billion	2.19	$330.38 million	$7.42	24.48

FirstCash has higher revenue and earnings than Agritek.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Agritek	N/A	N/A	N/A
FirstCash	9.02%	17.99%	8.03%

Summary

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

About Agritek

Agritek Holdings, Inc. distributes hemp and cannabis products under the Hemp Pops, MD Vapes, Rehab Rx, Higher Society, and California Premiums brands in the United States. Its products include human ingestible, such as tinctures, capsules, and gummies; CBD edibles; topicals; and pet products. The company also offers business services, including operational and compliance consulting, funding and financing, dispensary and retail, commercial production and equipment build out, multichannel supply chain, and consumer product, as well as branding, marketing, and sales solutions. In addition, it is involved in the acquisition and leasing of real estate properties, such as cultivation space and related facilities to licensed marijuana growers and dispensary owners. Agritek Holdings, Inc. distributes its products through e-commerce websites comprising RehabRx.com and Hemppops.com; third-party e-commerce websites; and various brick and mortar retailers. The company was formerly known as MediSwipe Inc. and changed its name to Agritek Holdings, Inc. in April 2014. Agritek Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

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.