Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Boosts Holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. by 81.0%, purchasing 3,839 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 8,581 shares valued at approximately $1,030,000.
• FirstCash announced a dividend increase to $0.42 per share, with a yield of 1.2%, and will distribute it to stockholders on August 29th.
• In recent analyst reports, FirstCash has received a mix of ratings, including a cut from "strong-buy" to "buy" by Wall Street Zen, and a target price of $160.00 set by Capital One Financial.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 81.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,581 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,839 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in FirstCash were worth $1,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCFS. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,236 shares of the company's stock worth $15,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in FirstCash by 8.4% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,429 shares of the company's stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Freedom Day Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the first quarter valued at about $1,524,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of FirstCash by 18.2% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 11,522 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of FirstCash by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 32,687 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Capital One Financial set a $160.00 target price on shares of FirstCash in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised FirstCash to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstCash has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $142.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.93, for a total transaction of $510,627.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,252,737.33. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 109,900 shares of company stock worth $15,193,007. Corporate insiders own 14.77% of the company's stock.

FirstCash Stock Up 0.9%

FCFS stock traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $148.58. The company had a trading volume of 159,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,903. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.57. 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 capitalization of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76 and a beta of 0.68. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.24 and a fifty-two week high of $148.73.

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

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is an increase from FirstCash's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

About FirstCash

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.