Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Raises Holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in FirstCash by 196.1% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 14,538 shares valued at about $2.73 million.
• FirstCash reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.69 beating estimates and revenue rising 25.7% year over year to $1.05 billion.
• Analysts remain generally positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $199.25, while the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 196.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,538 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,628 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in FirstCash were worth $2,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of FirstCash by 133.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 562,104 shares of the company's stock worth $89,588,000 after purchasing an additional 321,663 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in FirstCash by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,169,281 shares of the company's stock worth $186,361,000 after buying an additional 312,132 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in FirstCash by 67.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 623,059 shares of the company's stock worth $97,503,000 after buying an additional 251,305 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in FirstCash by 280.5% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 305,856 shares of the company's stock worth $48,454,000 after buying an additional 225,466 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in FirstCash by 78.3% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 402,112 shares of the company's stock worth $63,703,000 after buying an additional 176,549 shares during the period. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total transaction of $679,230.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,406 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,337,042.46. The trade was a 8.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Paula K. Garrett sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.40, for a total value of $326,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,427,013.60. The trade was a 18.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,500 shares of company stock valued at $6,243,104. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCFS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their price target on FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research downgraded FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research 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 research note on Friday, April 24th. 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 analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.25.

FirstCash Trading Down 0.5%

FirstCash stock opened at $223.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $222.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.74. 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 one year low of $119.21 and a one year high of $235.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98 and a beta of 0.53.

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. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 18.68%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio 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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