Lazard Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 45.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,205 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,552 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in FirstCash were worth $850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of FirstCash by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,112,978 shares of the company's stock valued at $426,105,000 after purchasing an additional 22,009 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in FirstCash by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,338,671 shares of the company's stock worth $242,286,000 after purchasing an additional 52,409 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI boosted its stake in FirstCash by 76.1% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 1,303,533 shares of the company's stock worth $135,046,000 after purchasing an additional 563,265 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in FirstCash by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,043,531 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,107,000 after buying an additional 9,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in FirstCash by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 648,582 shares of the company's stock valued at $67,193,000 after buying an additional 33,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCFS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $137.00 target price on shares of FirstCash in a report on Wednesday, February 19th.

FirstCash Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FCFS traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $127.50. 258,120 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 278,936. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.24 and a 52 week high of $135.57. The company's 50 day moving average price is $125.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 3.15, a current ratio of 4.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $836.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $837.11 million. FirstCash had a return on equity of 14.99% and a net margin of 7.64%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. FirstCash's payout ratio is currently 24.32%.

FirstCash Company 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.