Algert Global LLC Has $4.93 Million Stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• Algert Global LLC has significantly increased its stake in FirstCash Holdings by 81.1%, holding approximately 40,993 shares valued at $4.93 million.
• FirstCash recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.42 per share, up from the previous $0.38, with a payout ratio of 25.81%.
• The company's earnings report showed a net margin of 8.61% and earnings per share of $1.79, surpassing analysts' estimates by $0.13.

Algert Global LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 81.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,993 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,360 shares during the quarter. Algert Global LLC owned approximately 0.09% of FirstCash worth $4,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FCFS. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 1st quarter valued at $55,340,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 26,021.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 259,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,241,000 after acquiring an additional 258,657 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 349.3% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 294,281 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,488,000 after acquiring an additional 228,784 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 4th quarter valued at $21,701,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in FirstCash during the 4th quarter worth $18,169,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company's stock.

FirstCash Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of FCFS stock traded up $5.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $144.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 509,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 379,095. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $133.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.18. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.24 and a 52 week high of $144.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a current ratio of 4.21. The company has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18 and a beta of 0.68.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.13. FirstCash had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 8.61%.The firm had revenue of $830.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $820.42 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from FirstCash's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FCFS. Jefferies Financial Group raised FirstCash to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $160.00 target price on FirstCash in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstCash presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $807,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,846 shares in the company, valued at $2,132,237.76. This trade represents a 27.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.93, for a total value of $510,627.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 32,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,252,737.33. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,900 shares of company stock worth $15,193,007 in the last three months. Company insiders own 14.77% of the company's stock.

FirstCash Company 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.