Bank of America Corp DE Acquires New Stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired a new 1.15 million-share stake in FirstCash Holdings during the second quarter, valued at approximately $248.1 million and representing about 2.64% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 80.3% of FirstCash.
• FirstCash reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.50 beating estimates of $2.39 and revenue rising 29.4% year over year to $1.07 billion. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with four Buy ratings and one Hold rating, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $249, compared with the stock’s reported price of $219.70.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,146,721 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $248,059,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 2.64% of FirstCash as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FCFS. Odyssean LLC bought a new position in FirstCash during the second quarter worth about $483,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstCash during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,328,000. Castleark Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstCash during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,751,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of FirstCash during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $12,616,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in FirstCash in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,165,000. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of FirstCash from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Loop Capital raised shares of FirstCash from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of FirstCash from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $249.00.

FirstCash Stock Up 1.9%

FCFS stock opened at $219.70 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $9.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.42. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.42 and a 52 week high of $238.93. The company has a quick ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 4.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.11. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.42% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. FirstCash's payout ratio is currently 19.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Thomas Stuart sold 5,348 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.63, for a total transaction of $1,147,841.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 135,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,081,935.74. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director James H. Graves sold 3,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.20, for a total transaction of $829,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,929 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,638,694.80. This represents a 23.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 14,098 shares of company stock worth $3,051,281 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.86% of the company's stock.

About FirstCash

FirstCash, Inc NASDAQ: FCFS is a specialty consumer-finance and retail company focused primarily on pawn-based lending. Through its pawn stores, the company provides short-term, non-recourse loans secured by personal property, allowing customers to obtain cash without traditional credit underwriting. Customers may repay the loan and reclaim the pledged item or forfeit the collateral under applicable regulations.

FirstCash also generates revenue by selling merchandise obtained through forfeited pawn loans and by purchasing used goods directly from consumers.

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