Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Takes Position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH has acquired 4,455 shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc., valued at approximately $536,000, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• FirstCash's recent quarterly earnings report showed a beat on earnings per share, with $1.79, exceeding expectations of $1.66, and a revenue of $830.62 million.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.42 per share, reflecting a positive change from the previous $0.38 and contributing to a dividend yield of 1.3%.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FCFS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstCash by 808.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 227 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional bought a new position in FirstCash during the first quarter worth $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in FirstCash by 167.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 452 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in FirstCash by 986.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 565 shares of the company's stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in FirstCash by 92.9% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 517 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 80.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,900 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were 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 $4,252,737.33. This trade represents a 10.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 14.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

FirstCash Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ FCFS traded down $1.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $133.28. 299,753 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 308,547. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.24 and a 1-year high of $138.42. The stock has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 4.21 and a quick ratio of 3.12.

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

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This is a boost from FirstCash's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio is 23.35%.

FirstCash 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.