Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $590,000 Investment in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $590,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in FirstCash by 29.6% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Arista Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in FirstCash by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $907,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in FirstCash by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 505 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Midway Capital Research & Management raised its position in shares of FirstCash by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Midway Capital Research & Management now owns 13,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,946,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in shares of FirstCash by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 9,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,751,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded FirstCash from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 10th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on FirstCash from $242.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.50.

FirstCash Trading Down 1.2%

FCFS opened at $187.82 on Friday. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.95 and a 1-year high of $238.93. The company has a current ratio of 4.81, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $213.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.79.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 billion. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 20.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.86 earnings per share. Analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from FirstCash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.20%.

FirstCash announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 28th that allows the company to repurchase $200 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other news, CFO R. Orr sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.00, for a total transaction of $432,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,734 shares in the company, valued at $7,502,544. The trade was a 5.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $425,960.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,475,869.88. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 14,098 shares of company stock worth $3,051,281 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

About FirstCash

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.