Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 5,322 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors cut its FirstCash position by 10.1% in the first quarter, selling 5,322 shares and ending with 47,446 shares valued at about $8.9 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $199.25, though some firms recently lowered ratings or targets.
• FirstCash reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue expectations, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, implying a 0.8% yield.

Heartland Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 10.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,446 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,322 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of FirstCash worth $8,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the first quarter worth $212,000. California Public Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of FirstCash in the first quarter valued at $10,423,000. Future Fund LLC grew its position in shares of FirstCash by 27.1% in the first quarter. Future Fund LLC now owns 18,889 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,551,000 after purchasing an additional 4,024 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of FirstCash by 113.2% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Bauman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 1st quarter valued at $455,000. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FCFS. Zacks Research cut FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen upped their price target on FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of FirstCash from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total value of $2,284,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 140,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,181,902.54. This represents a 6.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Paula K. Garrett sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.40, for a total transaction of $326,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,427,013.60. This represents a 18.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,500 shares of company stock worth $6,243,104. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company's stock.

FirstCash Trading Down 1.3%

FirstCash stock opened at $213.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 4.77. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.21 and a fifty-two week high of $235.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $221.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $199.51.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.39. FirstCash had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.15%.The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.05%.

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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