FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.46

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share on Tuesday, November 24th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This is a 9.5% increase from FirstCash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42.

FirstCash has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 8 consecutive years. FirstCash has a payout ratio of 18.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect FirstCash to earn $12.74 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.2%.

FirstCash Stock Performance

NASDAQ FCFS opened at $184.78 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $217.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $216.31. The firm has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09 and a beta of 0.55. 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 has a 1 year low of $146.77 and a 1 year high of $238.93.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.05. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.42% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that FirstCash will post 11.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at FirstCash

In related news, COO Thomas Stuart sold 5,348 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.63, for a total value of $1,147,841.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 135,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,081,935.74. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 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 transaction of $425,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,406 shares in the company, valued at $6,475,869.88. This trade represents a 6.17% 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 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 insiders.

Institutional Trading of FirstCash

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in FirstCash in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in FirstCash in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in FirstCash during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in FirstCash by 113.2% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in FirstCash during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstCash Company Profile

FirstCash Holdings, Inc is a specialty financial services and retail company that operates pawn stores in the United States and Mexico. Through its pawn operations, the company provides short-term, collateral-backed loans to consumers who pledge personal property as security. Customers can reclaim their pledged items by repaying the loan and applicable fees within the required period.

The company also generates revenue by selling merchandise that has been forfeited on pawn loans or acquired through other purchasing activities.