1,887 Shares in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS Acquired by Ieq Capital LLC

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in FirstCash Holdings, purchasing 1,887 shares valued at approximately $227,000 in the first quarter, reflecting growing institutional interest in the company.
• Analysts have mixed views on FirstCash, with Jefferies upgrading it to a "strong-buy" rating while Loop Capital has downgraded it to a "hold" with a target price of $145.00.
• FirstCash recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.42, enhancing the annualized yield to 1.1%, signifying a positive financial outlook for investors.

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,887 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in FirstCash in the 1st quarter worth approximately $283,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in FirstCash by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,502 shares of the company's stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in FirstCash by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 54,249 shares of the company's stock worth $6,527,000 after purchasing an additional 7,792 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its holdings in FirstCash by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 23,835 shares of the company's stock worth $2,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in FirstCash by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 208,000 shares of the company's stock worth $25,027,000 after purchasing an additional 23,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCFS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Capital One Financial set a $160.00 price objective on FirstCash in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Loop Capital cut FirstCash from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised FirstCash to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of FirstCash in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $143.00.

FirstCash Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ FCFS traded down $1.45 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $146.47. The company had a trading volume of 157,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,204. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 4.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.24 and a 1-year high of $150.92. The firm's 50 day moving average is $137.12 and its 200-day moving average is $128.81.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.13. FirstCash had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 8.61%.The business had revenue of $830.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $820.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from FirstCash's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.41, for a total value of $445,230.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 97,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,479,918.47. This trade represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $807,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,846 shares in the company, valued at $2,132,237.76. The trade was a 27.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,500 shares of company stock worth $15,493,610 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 14.77% of the company's stock.

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.