Short Interest in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) Expands By 7.4%

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 606,800 shares, an increase of 7.4% from the January 15th total of 564,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 232,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

FirstCash Price Performance

NASDAQ:FCFS traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $114.59. The company had a trading volume of 240,272 shares, compared to its average volume of 234,892. The company has a quick ratio of 3.15, a current ratio of 4.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $109.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.23. FirstCash has a one year low of $100.24 and a one year high of $133.64.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. FirstCash had a return on equity of 14.99% and a net margin of 7.64%. Analysts forecast that FirstCash will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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FirstCash Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $137.00 price target on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lowered their price target on FirstCash from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.35, for a total transaction of $226,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,399,269.45. The trade was a 1.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Douglas Richard Rippel sold 300,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total value of $34,029,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,431,869 shares in the company, valued at $502,706,900.67. This trade represents a 6.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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 bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 157.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 569 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 7.8% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,144 shares of the company's stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 39.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,618,000 after acquiring an additional 3,966 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 75.3% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,612 shares of the company's stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 26.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,177 shares of the company's stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.