Heartland Advisors Inc. Has $8.41 Million Position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Heartland Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 52,768 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,727 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $8,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,096,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $649,040,000 after buying an additional 83,113 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,043,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,367,000 after acquiring an additional 31,550 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 742,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,644,000 after acquiring an additional 28,704 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in FirstCash by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 623,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,503,000 after acquiring an additional 251,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in FirstCash by 133.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 562,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,588,000 after acquiring an additional 321,663 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCFS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on FirstCash from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Zacks Research raised FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded FirstCash from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FirstCash presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.00.

FirstCash Trading Down 7.7%

NASDAQ:FCFS opened at $211.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 4.77. The firm has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53 and a beta of 0.52. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.21 and a 52 week high of $235.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $215.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.36.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.15%.The company’s revenue was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. FirstCash’s payout ratio is currently 21.05%.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other news, Director Paula K. Garrett sold 1,500 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.40, for a total transaction of $326,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,427,013.60. The trade was a 18.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Raul Ramos sold 6,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.23, for a total transaction of $1,539,447.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 20,400 shares in the company, valued at $4,594,692. This trade represents a 25.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,500 shares of company stock worth $6,243,104. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

About FirstCash

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.