Share Repurchase Plan Authorized by FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) Board of Directors

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 28th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buy back $200 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FCFS shares. TD Cowen dropped their target price on FirstCash from $242.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 10th. Loop Capital raised shares of FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of FirstCash from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.50.

FirstCash Price Performance

Shares of FCFS stock traded up $4.67 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $190.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,144,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,036. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 0.55. FirstCash has a one year low of $146.77 and a one year high of $238.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 4.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $214.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.68.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 9.48%. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.86 EPS. Equities analysts expect that FirstCash will post 11.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This is a positive change from FirstCash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James Graves sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.20, for a total value of $829,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,638,694.80. The trade was a 23.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Howard Hambleton sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total transaction of $425,960.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,475,869.88. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,098 shares of company stock valued at $3,051,281. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Company Profile

FirstCash Holdings, Inc is a specialty financial services and retail company that operates pawn stores in the United States and Mexico. Through its pawn operations, the company provides short-term, collateral-backed loans to consumers who pledge personal property as security. Customers can reclaim their pledged items by repaying the loan and applicable fees within the required period.

The company also generates revenue by selling merchandise that has been forfeited on pawn loans or acquired through other purchasing activities.