Howard Hambleton Sells 2,000 Shares of FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Stock

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) insider Howard Hambleton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $425,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,475,869.88. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

FirstCash Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:FCFS opened at $211.98 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $214.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 24.20 and a beta of 0.53. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.31 and a 12 month high of $235.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 4.89 and a quick ratio of 3.51.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 19.65% and a net margin of 9.42%.The company’s revenue was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in FirstCash during the second quarter worth $1,088,429,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in FirstCash during the second quarter valued at $248,059,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the second quarter worth $69,779,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 133.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 562,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,588,000 after purchasing an additional 321,663 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of FirstCash by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,169,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,361,000 after buying an additional 312,132 shares during the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FCFS. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Loop Capital raised shares of FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of FirstCash from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.00.

About FirstCash

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.