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

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 817,400 shares, a decrease of 11.7% from the November 15th total of 925,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 245,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

FirstCash Stock Down 2.1 %

FCFS stock traded down $2.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $106.30. 265,522 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 246,955. The stock has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69 and a beta of 0.65. FirstCash has a fifty-two week low of $101.62 and a fifty-two week high of $133.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $108.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.09. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.05. FirstCash had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 7.29%. The company had revenue of $837.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $843.94 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. FirstCash’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that FirstCash will post 6.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.15%.

Insider Activity at FirstCash

In related news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.68, for a total transaction of $211,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 14.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstCash

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCFS. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in FirstCash by 160.6% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 3,090 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew 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 valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in FirstCash by 4.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in FirstCash by 30.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in FirstCash by 26.2% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FCFS. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $137.00 price target for the company.

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.