Short Interest in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) Increases By 47.1%

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 801,793 shares, an increase of 47.1% from the February 26th total of 544,966 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 316,777 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCFS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. Zacks Research downgraded FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $701,480.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 111,289 shares in the company, valued at $19,516,751.93. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.53, for a total value of $1,825,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 150,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,533,920.38. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,500 shares of company stock worth $4,783,985. Insiders own 2.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of FirstCash by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,096,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $649,040,000 after acquiring an additional 83,113 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in FirstCash by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,169,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,361,000 after buying an additional 312,132 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of FirstCash by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,043,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,367,000 after acquiring an additional 31,550 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,009,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,850,000 after buying an additional 5,626 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of FirstCash by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 857,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,847,000 after buying an additional 8,610 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Price Performance

Shares of FCFS stock opened at $189.96 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.60 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 4.55 and a quick ratio of 3.36. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.61. FirstCash has a one year low of $116.66 and a one year high of $199.60.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.10. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. FirstCash’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that FirstCash will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.64%.

FirstCash Company Profile

FirstCash, Inc (NASDAQ: FCFS) is a leading integrated operator of pawn stores and provider of short-term consumer loan services in the United States and Mexico. Through its retail pawn outlets, FirstCash offers collateral-based loans secured by personal property, enabling customers to access liquidity without a credit history or traditional bank account. The company also purchases, trades and sells a broad range of secondhand merchandise, including electronics, jewelry and power tools, through its network of conveniently located stores.

In addition to its pawn-broking activities, FirstCash provides unsecured consumer loans designed to meet urgent cash needs.