FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on FCFS. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $160.00 target price on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstCash currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.33.

FirstCash Stock Up 1.1%

FirstCash stock opened at $139.11 on Monday. FirstCash has a fifty-two week low of $100.24 and a fifty-two week high of $141.56. The stock has a market cap of $6.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a current ratio of 4.21.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.13. FirstCash had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business had revenue of $830.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $820.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that FirstCash will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from FirstCash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. FirstCash’s payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.93, for a total transaction of $510,627.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 32,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,252,737.33. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $807,360.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,846 shares in the company, valued at $2,132,237.76. This trade represents a 27.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 213.9% in the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 296.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 4,601 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 17,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,320,000 after buying an additional 2,148 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,684,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstCash in the 2nd quarter worth $368,000. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Company Profile

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.