FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Stock Price Up 4.2% - Still a Buy?

Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) were up 4.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $127.00 and last traded at $127.22. Approximately 321,585 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 25% from the average daily volume of 258,146 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $137.00 price objective on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

FirstCash Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $115.96 and a 200 day moving average of $111.14. The company has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 3.15, a current ratio of 4.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. FirstCash had a net margin of 7.64% and a return on equity of 14.99%. On average, equities analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.53%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Douglas Richard Rippel sold 300,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total transaction of $34,029,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,431,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at $502,706,900.67. This trade represents a 6.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.35, for a total transaction of $226,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 100,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,399,269.45. This trade represents a 1.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 14.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 76.1% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 1,303,533 shares of the company's stock worth $135,046,000 after acquiring an additional 563,265 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in FirstCash by 26,021.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 259,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,241,000 after purchasing an additional 258,657 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in FirstCash by 349.3% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 294,281 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,488,000 after purchasing an additional 228,784 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in FirstCash during the 4th quarter valued at about $21,701,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in FirstCash in the fourth quarter worth about $18,169,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.30% of the company's stock.

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.