Blue Trust Inc. Boosts Holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,513 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in FirstCash by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,062,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $440,332,000 after buying an additional 219,983 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of FirstCash by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 575,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,352,000 after acquiring an additional 148,502 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 753.4% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 161,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,560,000 after acquiring an additional 142,391 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in FirstCash by 1,216.3% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 105,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,430,000 after purchasing an additional 97,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in FirstCash by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 621,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,347,000 after purchasing an additional 94,010 shares during the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other FirstCash news, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 720,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.90, for a total value of $85,000,005.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,746,023 shares in the company, valued at $559,556,111.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other FirstCash news, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 720,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.90, for a total transaction of $85,000,005.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,746,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $559,556,111.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.18, for a total value of $214,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,722,833.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 14.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCFS has been the topic of several analyst reports. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Loop Capital raised shares of FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.00.

FirstCash Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of FCFS stock opened at $119.43 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 4.03 and a quick ratio of 3.04. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.05 and a 1-year high of $133.64. The firm has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28 and a beta of 0.62.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $831.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $824.87 million. FirstCash had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 14.90%. FirstCash’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. This is a positive change from FirstCash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.63%.

FirstCash Profile

FirstCash Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates retail pawn stores in the United States, Mexico, and rest of Latin America. The company operates in three segments: U.S. Pawn, Latin America Pawn, and Retail POS Payment Solutions segments. 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.