FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS Shares Newly Purchased by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 2,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $590,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in FirstCash in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,088,429,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in FirstCash during the 2nd quarter valued at about $248,059,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in FirstCash by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 794,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,273,000 after purchasing an additional 17,177 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in FirstCash during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $69,779,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of FirstCash by 4.2% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 282,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,195,000 after purchasing an additional 11,358 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

FirstCash Stock Down 1.2%

FirstCash stock opened at $187.82 on Friday. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $146.95 and a fifty-two week high of $238.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 4.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $213.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.79. The stock has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 0.55.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This is a positive change from FirstCash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. 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 declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buy back $200 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Howard Hambleton sold 2,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,475,869.88. This trade represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Thomas Stuart sold 5,348 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $29,081,935.74. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,098 shares of company stock valued at $3,051,281. Insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

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.