Synovus Financial Corp Trims Holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp has reduced its holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. by 80.8%, now owning 6,022 shares valued at approximately $725,000 as per its recent SEC filing.
• Insider transactions include Howard F. Hambleton selling 3,900 shares for $510,627, and James H. Graves selling 6,000 shares for $807,360, indicating significant insider selling activity.
• FirstCash increased its quarterly dividend to $0.42, up from $0.38, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Synovus Financial Corp decreased its holdings in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 80.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,022 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,312 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in FirstCash were worth $725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCFS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in FirstCash by 808.0% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 227 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. CX Institutional bought a new stake in FirstCash during the first quarter valued at $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in FirstCash by 167.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 452 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its stake in FirstCash by 986.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 565 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in FirstCash by 92.9% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 517 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In other news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,900 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.93, for a total value of $510,627.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,252,737.33. The trade was a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,132,237.76. This represents a 27.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 109,900 shares of company stock worth $15,193,007. Company insiders own 2.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on FCFS. Wall Street Zen lowered FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Capital One Financial set a $160.00 price target on FirstCash in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised FirstCash to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Monday, August 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstCash currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $142.33.

FirstCash Stock Up 0.9%

FCFS opened at $148.60 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83 and a beta of 0.68. The business's 50-day moving average price is $134.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.72. The company has a current ratio of 4.21, a quick ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.24 and a 12 month high of $148.75.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $830.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $820.42 million. FirstCash had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 8.61%.The company's quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from FirstCash's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.81%.

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.

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