Candriam S.C.A. Makes New Investment in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. opened a new position in FirstCash Holdings during the first quarter, buying 150,908 shares worth about $28.4 million. The stake represented 0.34% of the company at the end of the reporting period.
• FirstCash continues to draw mixed but generally positive analyst coverage, with recent price-target increases from Canaccord Genuity and TD Cowen. Overall, MarketBeat shows a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $199.25.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, beating estimates with $2.69 EPS on $1.05 billion in revenue, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share. The stock has traded near its 52-week high after the earnings beat and dividend update.

Candriam S.C.A. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 150,908 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,371,000. Candriam S.C.A. owned 0.34% of FirstCash at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in FirstCash by 133.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 562,104 shares of the company's stock worth $89,588,000 after buying an additional 321,663 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,169,281 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,361,000 after acquiring an additional 312,132 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in FirstCash by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 623,059 shares of the company's stock worth $97,503,000 after acquiring an additional 251,305 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in FirstCash by 280.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 305,856 shares of the company's stock worth $48,454,000 after acquiring an additional 225,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in FirstCash by 102.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 294,971 shares of the company's stock worth $46,729,000 after acquiring an additional 149,407 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FCFS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of FirstCash from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.25.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other FirstCash news, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total transaction of $2,284,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 140,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,181,902.54. The trade was a 6.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.29, for a total value of $454,580.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,121,980.86. This trade represents a 5.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,500 shares of company stock worth $6,243,104. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

FirstCash Price Performance

Shares of FCFS traded down $2.81 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $218.61. 203,763 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 470,741. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $222.97 and a 200-day moving average of $197.69. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.21 and a 52 week high of $235.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 4.77.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.15%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

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

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.

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