FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Strong Earnings

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. Approximately 244,281 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 20% from the previous session’s volume of 203,490 shares.The stock last traded at $117.67 and had previously closed at $132.03.

The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $836.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $846.08 million. FirstCash had a net margin of 7.23% and a return on equity of 14.73%. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. FirstCash’s payout ratio is 27.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FCFS. TD Cowen upgraded FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $145.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of FirstCash from $131.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.25, for a total transaction of $348,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 94,715 shares in the company, valued at $11,010,618.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.25, for a total value of $348,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 94,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,010,618.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 17,395 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.73, for a total transaction of $2,065,308.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,466,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,093,704.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 329,984 shares of company stock worth $38,850,386. 18.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FCFS. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 2.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,556,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $658,158,000 after acquiring an additional 145,821 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of FirstCash by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,062,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $440,332,000 after purchasing an additional 219,983 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in FirstCash by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,206,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,442,000 after purchasing an additional 22,067 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in FirstCash by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,038,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,573,000 after purchasing an additional 36,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in FirstCash by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 575,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,352,000 after buying an additional 148,502 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 2.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56 and a beta of 0.62.

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.