Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS – Get Rating) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 147,037 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,088 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $12,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FCFS. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstCash by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of FirstCash by 87.3% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstCash by 620.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $77,000. 78.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FCFS. Barclays upped their target price on shares of FirstCash from $108.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on shares of FirstCash from $91.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of FirstCash from $90.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of FirstCash from $90.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, FirstCash presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.00.

FirstCash Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ FCFS opened at $96.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.43 and a 52 week high of $105.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.64 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $100.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.60.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.04. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.64% and a return on equity of 13.38%. The company had revenue of $762.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $725.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Raul Ramos sold 30,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.87, for a total value of $3,091,243.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 22,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,304,288. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Raul Ramos sold 30,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.87, for a total value of $3,091,243.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 22,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,304,288. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.00, for a total transaction of $780,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 57,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,952,336. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,600 shares of company stock worth $4,898,253 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 19.35% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Company Profile

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FirstCash Holdings, Inc operates retail pawn stores in the United States and Latin America. Its pawn stores lend money on the collateral of pledged personal property, including jewelry, electronics, tools, appliances, sporting goods, and musical instruments, and retails merchandise acquired through collateral forfeitures on forfeited pawn loans and over-the-counter purchases of merchandise directly from customers.