Heartland Advisors Inc. Purchases New Holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 44,877 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,708,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.10% of FirstCash at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 490.9% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. High Point Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstCash in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in FirstCash during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FirstCash news, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 5,348 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.63, for a total transaction of $1,147,841.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 135,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,081,935.74. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Raul Ramos sold 6,835 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.23, for a total value of $1,539,447.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 20,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,594,692. This represents a 25.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 20,348 shares of company stock worth $4,492,755 over the last quarter. 2.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

FirstCash Trading Up 9.4%

Shares of FCFS stock opened at $225.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $206.91. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $138.34 and a 1 year high of $235.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 4.89 and a quick ratio of 3.51.

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

FirstCash Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on FCFS shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Four 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.00.

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.