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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.39, for a total value of $3,127,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 866,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,587,314.98. This trade represents a 2.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

FirstCash Stock Performance

Shares of FirstCash stock opened at $156.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05 and a beta of 0.66. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.24 and a 52 week high of $166.08. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.12.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $904.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $845.28 million. FirstCash had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 16.63%. FirstCash’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, October 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on FCFS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on FirstCash from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of FirstCash in a report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research raised FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on FirstCash from $181.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of FirstCash from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $167.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC lifted its stake in FirstCash by 92.9% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 517 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 1st quarter worth $283,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of FirstCash during the first quarter worth $536,000. Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in FirstCash in the first quarter valued at $307,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in FirstCash by 42.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 1,790 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

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.