Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Reduces Stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lowered its stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 25.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 434,442 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150,045 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $69,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 4.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,761,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in FirstCash by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 389,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,866,000 after acquiring an additional 34,364 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in FirstCash by 237.2% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 62,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,467,000 after acquiring an additional 43,653 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in FirstCash by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 71,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,676,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in FirstCash by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Price Performance

FCFS stock opened at $191.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.92. The stock has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a PE ratio of 25.82 and a beta of 0.46. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $116.66 and a one year high of $199.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 4.55 and a quick ratio of 3.36.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.10. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. FirstCash’s payout ratio is 22.64%.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $701,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 111,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,516,751.93. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.53, for a total value of $1,825,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 150,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,533,920.38. This represents a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 26,500 shares of company stock worth $4,783,985. 14.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FCFS shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on FirstCash from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research cut FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.25.

About FirstCash

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.