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

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in 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 daily trading volume, of 245,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 88,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,375,401.20. The trade was a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 14.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstCash

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCFS. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in FirstCash during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,576,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the third quarter valued at approximately $553,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,707,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of FirstCash by 174.3% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 159,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,269,000 after acquiring an additional 101,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in FirstCash in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,882,000. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FCFS. TD Cowen cut their target price 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 assumed coverage on FirstCash in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $137.00 price target for the company.

FirstCash Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of FCFS stock traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $104.85. 274,833 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 246,853. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 4.31, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $108.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.92. FirstCash has a 1 year low of $101.62 and a 1 year high of $133.64.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.05. FirstCash had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 7.29%. The business had revenue of $837.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $843.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that FirstCash will post 6.6 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. FirstCash’s payout ratio is currently 28.15%.

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.