Castleark Management LLC Takes $14.75 Million Position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Castleark Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 68,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,751,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of FCFS. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in FirstCash in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in FirstCash in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstCash by 490.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 113.2% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FCFS shares. Zacks Research downgraded FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded FirstCash from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their price target on FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Loop Capital raised FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.00.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other FirstCash news, SVP Raul Ramos sold 6,835 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.23, for a total transaction of $1,539,447.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 20,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,594,692. This trade represents a 25.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.00, for a total value of $432,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,502,544. This trade represents a 5.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,348 shares of company stock valued at $4,492,755. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

FirstCash Stock Down 2.9%

FCFS stock opened at $229.51 on Wednesday. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $144.56 and a 52 week high of $238.93. The company has a market capitalization of $9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $214.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.03. The company has a current ratio of 4.89, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.42% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is 19.18%.

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.