Militia Capital Partners LP Takes Position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• Militia Capital Partners initiated a new position in FirstCash, buying 5,000 shares valued at about $797,000 in the fourth quarter. The filing also showed institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 80.3% of the stock.
• FirstCash reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $2.69 versus expectations of $2.30 and revenue of $1.05 billion, up 25.7% year over year. Analysts currently expect the company to earn 11.3 EPS for the full year.
• The company also returned cash to shareholders with a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive: several firms raised price targets, and the stock carries an average Buy rating.

Militia Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $797,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in FirstCash by 456.6% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 8,299 shares of the company's stock worth $1,323,000 after acquiring an additional 6,808 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in FirstCash by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,328 shares of the company's stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in FirstCash by 84.3% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 9,837 shares of the company's stock worth $1,568,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its position in FirstCash by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,128 shares of the company's stock worth $979,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new stake in FirstCash during the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,439,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paula K. Garrett sold 1,500 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director owned 6,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,427,013.60. This trade represents a 18.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,337,042.46. This represents a 8.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 27,500 shares of company stock worth $6,243,104 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.86% of the company's stock.

FirstCash Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of FCFS opened at $219.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.55 and a beta of 0.52. The company's fifty day moving average is $217.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.26. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.21 and a fifty-two week high of $235.97. The company has a quick ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 4.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.15% and a return on equity of 18.68%. FirstCash's revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. Analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.3 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FCFS. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of FirstCash from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of FirstCash from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of FirstCash from $205.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $198.00.

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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