Villanova Investment Management Co LLC Buys 3,457 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Villanova Investment Management Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 37.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,729 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,457 shares during the quarter. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $2,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FCFS. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of FirstCash during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in FirstCash during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in FirstCash by 127.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstCash by 70.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 220 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of FirstCash by 262.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCFS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $217.00 price objective on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. One equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.50.

FirstCash Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:FCFS opened at $183.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a current ratio of 4.55. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.51 and a 52-week high of $188.75. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.16. The firm has a market cap of $8.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.72 and a beta of 0.49.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.54 by $0.10. FirstCash had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 9.02%.The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. FirstCash’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.64%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $701,480.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 111,289 shares in the company, valued at $19,516,751.93. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of FirstCash 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 owned 150,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,533,920.38. This trade represents a 6.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 30,500 shares of company stock worth $5,438,945 over the last three months. 14.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.