SG Americas Securities LLC Has $1.51 Million Stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 1,044.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,559 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,724 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $1,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hood River Capital Management LLC grew its stake in FirstCash by 42.6% in the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 611,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,577,000 after acquiring an additional 182,451 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in FirstCash by 85.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 371,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,239,000 after purchasing an additional 171,708 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 713,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,477,000 after buying an additional 65,308 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in FirstCash by 877.7% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 70,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,540,000 after acquiring an additional 63,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 69.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 145,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,672,000 after buying an additional 59,583 shares in the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 4,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.74, for a total transaction of $654,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,352,372.94. This trade represents a 13.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Rick L. Wessel sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.39, for a total value of $3,127,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 866,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,587,314.98. This represents a 2.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,000 shares of company stock valued at $6,481,395. Corporate insiders own 2.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FCFS. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research lowered FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of FirstCash from $181.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstCash in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.00.

FirstCash Stock Performance

Shares of FirstCash stock opened at $169.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39 and a beta of 0.52. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $106.77 and a one year high of $170.06. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 4.99 and a quick ratio of 3.72.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.35. FirstCash had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 17.44%. The company had revenue of $904.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $845.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.24%.

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.