Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Sells 63,770 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. has reduced its stake in FirstCash Holdings, selling 63,770 shares, resulting in a total holding of 576,751 shares, which is approximately 1.30% of the company.
• FirstCash reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $1.79, exceeding estimates of $1.66, alongside a revenue of $830.62 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.42 per share, up from $0.38, reflecting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lowered its holdings in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 10.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 576,751 shares of the company's stock after selling 63,770 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned about 1.30% of FirstCash worth $77,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Ascent Group LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstCash during the 2nd quarter valued at $226,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of FirstCash during the 2nd quarter valued at $127,000. CX Institutional raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 434 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in FirstCash by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 38,388 shares of the company's stock worth $5,188,000 after acquiring an additional 879 shares during the period. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management bought a new position in FirstCash in the 2nd quarter worth $650,000. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company's stock.

FirstCash Stock Performance

NASDAQ FCFS opened at $151.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 4.21 and a quick ratio of 3.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32 and a beta of 0.69. The company's fifty day moving average is $143.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.14. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.24 and a 52-week high of $158.93.

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

FirstCash Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Rick L. Wessel sold 30,976 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.33, for a total transaction of $4,315,886.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 901,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,673,152.06. The trade was a 3.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $807,360.00. Following the sale, the director owned 15,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,132,237.76. This trade represents a 27.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 111,500 shares of company stock worth $15,493,610. Corporate insiders own 2.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of FirstCash to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of FirstCash in a report on Monday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of FirstCash in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Capital One Financial set a $160.00 target price on shares of FirstCash in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstCash in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $154.40.

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.

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