Entropy Technologies LP Makes New Investment in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP made a new investment of approximately $369,000 in FirstCash Holdings, acquiring 3,070 shares in the first quarter.
• FirstCash recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.38 to $0.42 per share, reflecting a 1.2% yield.
• FirstCash reported earnings of $1.79 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.66, along with revenues of $830.62 million.

Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,070 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 1.6% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,552 shares of the company's stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstCash by 1.6% during the first quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,757 shares of the company's stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in shares of FirstCash by 1.1% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 9,315 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 0.9% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,311,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 1.4% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 8,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FirstCash news, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,132,237.76. The trade was a 27.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,900 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.93, for a total transaction of $510,627.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 32,481 shares in the company, 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 own 14.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FCFS. Wall Street Zen cut shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Monday. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $160.00 price objective on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th.

FirstCash Price Performance

Shares of FCFS stock traded up $1.38 on Monday, hitting $137.90. 77,562 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 304,649. The firm has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23 and a beta of 0.68. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.24 and a 52 week high of $141.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 4.21 and a quick ratio of 3.12.

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

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from FirstCash's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. FirstCash's payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

FirstCash 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.