About six months ago, I wrote about some undefendable businesses that I thought would make for good investments over the long haul, primarily because they were generally unloved, if not detested, by large swaths of the populace. Of the three that I highlighted, only one -- payday lender Advance America (NYSE:AEA) -- has performed as I hoped so far, beating the S&P 500, but I haven't given up on the other two yet. After all, six months is a short time in the world of investing.
But even though Advance America has held up so far, the entire industry has done quite well over that time frame. In fact, my highlighted stock was the dog of the bunch.
One of the star performers in the industry was First Cash Financial Services (NASDAQ:FCFS), which reported first-quarter earnings yesterday of $0.23 a share, a 28% increase over last year -- which also happens to mark the 21st consecutive quarter of double-digit EPS growth. The company has also adopted an aggressive new store-opening plan and opened 20 new stores in the quarter.
Payday lenders and pawnshops don't have the most savory reputations. Smeared by the traditional banking industry as preying upon working-class folk, the fees they charge for performing their services are slammed as usurious. The $10 fee for cashing a $100 check is said to be similar to an annual percentage rate of 260%. Yet as fellow Fool contributor Lawrence Meyers has written in several articles on the industry, it's only prejudice that allows such characterizations to remain.
A bank can charge a $3.50 "convenience fee" for making a $20 withdrawal, yet you don't hear that it's akin to a 455% APR. The $25 "insufficient funds fee" on your $100 bounced check isn't characterized as a 650% APR fee, nor is the 728% APR you get socked with by your credit card for paying your bill late thought of as such -- it's simply a $28 late fee.
So you may have found yourself casting a jaundiced eye at companies like EZ Corp (NASDAQ:EZPW), Cash America (NYSE:CSH), and Dollar Financial (NASDAQ:DLLR) because you wouldn't want to have to say you're invested in pawn shops while sipping champagne at your local soiree. That's too bad, because not only do they provide much-needed services, but they're profitable, too. EZ Corp is up 168% since then, while Cash America is up 51%, and Dollar Financial is up 62%. How did my dog Advance America compare? It was up "only" 22% for the six-month period.
First Cash (itself up more than 70% on a split-adjusted basis) has been able to increase its own cash position to $56 million while maintaining a debt-free condition. It's also raising its forecast for the coming fiscal year, boosting earnings projections to $0.93 to $0.94 a share, from the previous forecast of $0.91 to $0.93 per share. That represents as much as a 24% gain over 2005 results.
Investing in payday lenders is not for the faint of heart because of the uncertain regulatory environment. But by looking where others will not, even when you pick the industry laggard as I did, you can still find opportunities for profit without having to pawn off your pride.
Trade this article in for related Foolishness:
- Investing in the Undefendable
- Can Payday Lenders Survive?
- Pawn Shops? Payday Lenders? Paydirt.
- Can Prejudice Harm a Stock?
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Fool contributor Rich Duprey does not own any of the stocks mentioned in this article. You can see his holdings here. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
