Empowered Funds LLC Sells 12,372 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC cut its FirstCash stake by 76.5% in the first quarter, selling 12,372 shares and retaining 3,795 shares valued at approximately $713,000. Institutional investors collectively own 80.3% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with FirstCash receiving an overall “Buy” consensus rating and a $249 average price target. Canaccord Genuity, Loop Capital and TD Cowen recently raised their price targets or ratings.
• FirstCash exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $2.50 in EPS and $1.07 billion in revenue, with revenue up 29.4% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, equivalent to a 0.8% yield.

Empowered Funds LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 76.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,795 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,372 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in FirstCash were worth $713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in FirstCash by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 474,977 shares of the company's stock worth $89,296,000 after buying an additional 40,535 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of FirstCash by 70,840.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 43,983 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,010,000 after buying an additional 43,921 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Sail Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 4th quarter valued at $17,439,000. Brant Point Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 4th quarter worth $2,391,000. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 4th quarter worth $1,857,000. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on FCFS shares. Weiss Ratings raised FirstCash from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Loop Capital upgraded FirstCash from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $249.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total transaction of $679,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,406 shares in the company, valued at $7,337,042.46. This represents a 8.47% decrease in their position. 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 firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.29, for a total value of $454,580.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 35,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,121,980.86. The trade was 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. Insiders sold a total of 26,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,917,004 over the last three months. 2.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

FirstCash Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of FCFS opened at $208.73 on Tuesday. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.67 and a fifty-two week high of $235.97. The firm has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.83 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $215.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $204.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a current ratio of 4.89.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.42% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.18%.

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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