FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) Short Interest Update

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 939,500 shares, a growth of 10.7% from the August 15th total of 848,900 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 297,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BTIG Research initiated coverage on FirstCash in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstCash presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.00.

FirstCash Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of FCFS traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $119.14. The stock had a trading volume of 210,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 245,292. The company has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.17. FirstCash has a 1-year low of $94.55 and a 1-year high of $133.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 4.03 and a quick ratio of 3.04.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $831.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.87 million. FirstCash had a return on equity of 14.90% and a net margin of 7.17%. FirstCash’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that FirstCash will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from FirstCash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. FirstCash’s payout ratio is 29.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstCash

In other FirstCash news, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.07, for a total value of $72,042.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,735,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $568,560,627.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.18, for a total value of $214,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 90,715 shares in the company, valued at $9,722,833.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.07, for a total transaction of $72,042.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,735,243 shares in the company, valued at $568,560,627.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,154 shares of company stock valued at $1,912,562 over the last 90 days. 14.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of FirstCash

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 219,983 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of FirstCash by 66.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 446,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,869,000 after acquiring an additional 177,698 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 575,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,352,000 after acquiring an additional 148,502 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in FirstCash by 753.4% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 161,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,560,000 after purchasing an additional 142,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in FirstCash by 1,216.3% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 105,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,430,000 after purchasing an additional 97,300 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.