Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,006,080 shares of the company’s stock after selling 90,876 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of FirstCash worth $638,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FCFS. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,925,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in FirstCash by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 623,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,503,000 after acquiring an additional 251,305 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in FirstCash by 76.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 534,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,687,000 after acquiring an additional 231,379 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in FirstCash by 280.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 305,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,454,000 after acquiring an additional 225,466 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 78.3% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 402,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,703,000 after buying an additional 176,549 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other FirstCash news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.12, for a total transaction of $740,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 35,406 shares in the company, valued at $6,554,358.72. This represents a 10.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $701,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 111,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,516,751.93. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,000 shares of company stock worth $5,110,085. Insiders own 14.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCFS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered FirstCash from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen upped their price target on FirstCash from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $198.00.

FirstCash Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FCFS opened at $219.93 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $197.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.49. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.21 and a twelve month high of $227.26. The company has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 4.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.15%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. Research analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is 21.05%.

FirstCash Company Profile

FirstCash, Inc (NASDAQ: FCFS) is a leading integrated operator of pawn stores and provider of short-term consumer loan services in the United States and Mexico. Through its retail pawn outlets, FirstCash offers collateral-based loans secured by personal property, enabling customers to access liquidity without a credit history or traditional bank account. The company also purchases, trades and sells a broad range of secondhand merchandise, including electronics, jewelry and power tools, through its network of conveniently located stores.

In addition to its pawn-broking activities, FirstCash provides unsecured consumer loans designed to meet urgent cash needs.