Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has reduced its stake in FirstCash Holdings by 1.7%, now owning approximately 4 million shares valued at around $486 million.
• FirstCash recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.42 per share, representing a yield of 1.2% and a payout ratio of 23.35%.
• The company's stock has experienced a 2.0% decline, currently trading at approximately $136.52, with a 52-week range between $100.24 and $141.56.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,043,643 shares of the company's stock after selling 69,335 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.11% of FirstCash worth $486,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstCash by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,338,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $242,286,000 after acquiring an additional 52,409 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 76.1% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 1,303,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $135,046,000 after purchasing an additional 563,265 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of FirstCash by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,043,531 shares of the company's stock worth $108,107,000 after purchasing an additional 9,264 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 888,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,945,000 after buying an additional 112,349 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in FirstCash by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 640,521 shares of the company's stock worth $77,067,000 after buying an additional 79,930 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other FirstCash news, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $807,360.00. Following the sale, the director owned 15,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available through this link. Also, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.93, for a total value of $510,627.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,252,737.33. The trade was a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 14.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

FirstCash Stock Performance

FCFS stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $138.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 303,729. The stock has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 4.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $132.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.39. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.24 and a 1 year high of $141.56.

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

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from FirstCash's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of FirstCash in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $160.00 price target on FirstCash in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th.

About FirstCash

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.