Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,769 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 2.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 136,491 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,769 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $25,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in FirstCash by 9.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 389,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,866,000 after purchasing an additional 34,364 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in FirstCash by 237.2% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 62,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,467,000 after purchasing an additional 43,653 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in FirstCash by 4.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in FirstCash by 67.4% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 20,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,821,000 after buying an additional 8,402 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FCFS. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered FirstCash from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research cut FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.25.

FirstCash Stock Down 1.8%

NASDAQ FCFS opened at $209.66 on Tuesday. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.21 and a 1 year high of $235.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of 26.27 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.77 and a quick ratio of 3.42. The business’s 50-day moving average is $221.46 and its 200 day moving average is $200.12.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.39. FirstCash had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.15%.The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. FirstCash’s quarterly revenue was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.33 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.05%.

Insider Activity at FirstCash

In related news, Director Paula K. Garrett sold 1,500 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.40, for a total value of $326,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,427,013.60. The trade was a 18.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.29, for a total transaction of $454,580.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,121,980.86. The trade was a 5.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 27,500 shares of company stock valued at $6,243,104 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

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.