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

Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 6.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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.’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $40,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCFS. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of FirstCash in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of FirstCash by 113.2% in 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. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of FirstCash in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstCash during the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FCFS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of FirstCash from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of FirstCash in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Loop Capital upgraded FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered FirstCash from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.50.

FirstCash Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of FCFS stock opened at $185.67 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 4.81 and a quick ratio of 3.42. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.95 and a 1-year high of $238.93. The firm has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12 and a beta of 0.59.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.86 earnings per share. FirstCash’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.03 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from FirstCash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is 18.20%.

FirstCash announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 28th that permits the company to repurchase $200 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at FirstCash

In other news, Director James Graves sold 3,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.20, for a total transaction of $829,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,638,694.80. The trade was a 23.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO R. Orr sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.00, for a total value of $432,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,502,544. The trade was a 5.44% 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. Insiders sold 14,098 shares of company stock valued at $3,051,281 over the last quarter. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About FirstCash

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.