Heartland Advisors Inc. Purchases 56,414 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. by 525.6% during the first quarter, owning 67,147 shares valued at approximately $8.08 million.
• FirstCash recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, up from $0.38, with a dividend yield of 1.37%.
• Analysts downgraded FirstCash from a "strong-buy" to a "buy" rating, amid a backdrop of significant insider transactions as well.

Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 525.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,147 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 56,414 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 0.15% of FirstCash worth $8,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FCFS. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in FirstCash by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,236 shares of the company's stock worth $15,911,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in FirstCash by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,429 shares of the company's stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Freedom Day Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in FirstCash during the 1st quarter worth about $1,524,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in FirstCash by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 268,732 shares of the company's stock worth $27,841,000 after acquiring an additional 108,353 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in FirstCash by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 11,522 shares of the company's stock worth $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 1,771 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.93, for a total value of $510,627.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,252,737.33. This trade represents a 10.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 14.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th.

FirstCash Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of FCFS stock traded down $2.37 on Monday, reaching $120.08. 338,946 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 297,106. The company has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $130.42 and a 200-day moving average of $122.90. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $100.24 and a one year high of $138.42.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $830.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $820.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The business's revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This is a boost from FirstCash's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.35%.

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.