12,213 FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS Shares Bought by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. grew its stake in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 191,858 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,213 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. owned approximately 0.45% of FirstCash worth $40,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FCFS. Arista Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 22.8% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. BOKF NA lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 3.3% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 2,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in FirstCash by 19.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Midway Capital Research & Management boosted its holdings in FirstCash by 0.6% during the third quarter. Midway Capital Research & Management now owns 13,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,946,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstCash

In related news, Director James Graves sold 3,750 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.20, for a total transaction of $829,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,929 shares in the company, valued at $2,638,694.80. The trade was a 23.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Howard Hambleton sold 2,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $425,960.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,475,869.88. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,098 shares of company stock valued at $3,051,281. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCFS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of FirstCash from $242.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 10th. Loop Capital raised FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut FirstCash from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.50.

FirstCash Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FCFS opened at $185.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12 and a beta of 0.59. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.95 and a 52 week high of $238.93. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $209.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $206.43. The company has a current ratio of 4.81, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.86 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is a positive change from FirstCash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is 18.20%.

FirstCash Company Profile

FirstCash Holdings, Inc operates pawn stores that provide short-term, non-recourse loans secured by personal property and sell previously owned merchandise. Its stores also purchase items from customers, including jewelry, electronics, tools and other goods.

The company serves customers in the United States and Latin America, including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Colombia. Its retail operations offer a range of pre-owned goods, with jewelry among its key product categories.

FirstCash was formed in 2016 through the merger of First Cash Financial Services and Cash America International.