Short Interest in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) Increases By 28.8%

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 925,600 shares, a growth of 28.8% from the October 31st total of 718,600 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 246,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen cut their price target on FirstCash from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens began coverage on FirstCash in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $137.00 target price on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FirstCash news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.68, for a total value of $211,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,375,401.20. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 3,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.94, for a total transaction of $404,677.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,731,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $567,540,367.86. This trade represents a 0.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,974 shares of company stock valued at $688,080. Insiders own 14.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in FirstCash by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in FirstCash by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 9,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,050,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 15.4% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in FirstCash by 1.0% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 17,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in FirstCash by 8.8% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstCash Stock Performance

FirstCash stock traded down $1.75 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $107.11. 185,552 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 248,098. FirstCash has a 52-week low of $101.62 and a 52-week high of $133.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 4.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $109.79 and its 200 day moving average is $111.86. The stock has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.87 and a beta of 0.64.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.05. FirstCash had a net margin of 7.29% and a return on equity of 14.97%. The firm had revenue of $837.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $843.94 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that FirstCash will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.15%.

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.