FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its FirstCash stake by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 48,595 shares and leaving it with 271,595 shares valued at about $43.3 million. Institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 80.3% of the stock.
• Analysts remain mostly bullish on FCFS after several rating changes and target-price increases, including moves by TD Cowen and Canaccord Genuity. The consensus rating is still Buy, with a consensus price target of $198.00.
• FirstCash posted strong quarterly results, reporting EPS of $2.69 versus the $2.30 estimate and revenue of $1.05 billion, up 25.7% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, payable May 29.

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 271,595 shares of the company's stock after selling 48,595 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.62% of FirstCash worth $43,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FCFS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 96.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 240,441 shares of the company's stock worth $38,091,000 after acquiring an additional 117,788 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 857,510 shares of the company's stock worth $135,847,000 after acquiring an additional 8,610 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,096,956 shares of the company's stock worth $649,040,000 after acquiring an additional 83,113 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstCash in the 3rd quarter worth $1,361,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 76.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 534,571 shares of the company's stock worth $84,687,000 after acquiring an additional 231,379 shares during the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings cut FirstCash from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research upgraded FirstCash from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on FirstCash from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $198.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.53, for a total transaction of $1,825,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 150,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,533,920.38. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 4,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.12, for a total value of $740,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 35,406 shares in the company, valued at $6,554,358.72. This represents a 10.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 18,500 shares of company stock worth $3,440,840. 2.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

FirstCash Stock Performance

Shares of FCFS stock opened at $226.54 on Friday. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.21 and a 1-year high of $235.97. The company has a current ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39 and a beta of 0.52. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $203.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.81.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.39. FirstCash had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.15%.The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. FirstCash's revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. FirstCash's payout ratio is currently 21.05%.

FirstCash Profile

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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