Royce & Associates LP Buys 2,526 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 99,624 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,526 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $15,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in FirstCash by 96.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 240,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,091,000 after buying an additional 117,788 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,096,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $649,040,000 after purchasing an additional 83,113 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,857,000. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the third quarter valued at about $1,361,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 76.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 534,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,687,000 after purchasing an additional 231,379 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Stock Performance

NASDAQ FCFS opened at $232.05 on Wednesday. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.21 and a 52-week high of $235.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 4.77. The company has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a PE ratio of 29.08 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.39. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 18.68%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstCash

In other FirstCash news, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total transaction of $2,284,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 140,846 shares in the company, valued at $32,181,902.54. This trade represents a 6.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total transaction of $679,230.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,337,042.46. This represents a 8.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 17,500 shares of company stock worth $3,972,130 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on FCFS. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of FirstCash from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $198.00.

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.