Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Cuts Stock Holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. decreased its position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 25.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 434,442 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150,045 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 0.98% of FirstCash worth $69,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in FirstCash in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstCash by 127.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of FirstCash in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 70.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 220 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of FirstCash in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 80.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on FCFS. Zacks Research lowered FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on FirstCash from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstCash in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstCash presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 4,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.12, for a total value of $740,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 35,406 shares in the company, valued at $6,554,358.72. This trade represents a 10.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.53, for a total transaction of $1,825,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 150,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,533,920.38. This trade represents a 6.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 26,500 shares of company stock worth $4,783,985 over the last quarter. 14.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

FirstCash Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FCFS opened at $191.57 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.55, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.92. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $116.66 and a 1-year high of $199.60. The firm has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.82 and a beta of 0.46.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 9.02%.The business’s revenue was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.12 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is 22.64%.

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.