Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Buys 115,279 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management increased its stake in FirstCash by 27.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 115,279 more shares and bringing its total holding to 537,734 shares worth about $85.7 million.
• FirstCash reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $2.69 beating estimates and revenue rising 25.7% year over year to $1.05 billion. Analysts now expect the company to earn 11.3 EPS for the full year.
• The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, while insiders have been selling shares recently, including director Paula K. Garrett and SVP Raul Ramos. FirstCash stock was trading near its 52-week high and has drawn a consensus Buy rating from analysts.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 537,734 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 115,279 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned about 1.22% of FirstCash worth $85,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FCFS. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of FirstCash by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 623,059 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,503,000 after acquiring an additional 251,305 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of FirstCash by 76.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 534,571 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,687,000 after acquiring an additional 231,379 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of FirstCash by 280.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 305,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,454,000 after acquiring an additional 225,466 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of FirstCash by 78.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 402,112 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,703,000 after acquiring an additional 176,549 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of FirstCash by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 294,971 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,729,000 after acquiring an additional 149,407 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at FirstCash

In other news, Director Paula K. Garrett sold 1,500 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.40, for a total transaction of $326,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Raul Ramos sold 3,165 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.13, for a total value of $731,526.45. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 27,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,294,825.55. This represents a 10.41% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,665 shares of company stock valued at $4,703,656. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

FirstCash Trading Up 1.0%

FCFS stock opened at $222.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 4.77 and a quick ratio of 3.42. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $212.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.42. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $119.21 and a one year high of $235.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.39. FirstCash had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.15%.The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.3 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FCFS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of FirstCash from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of FirstCash from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective 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, FirstCash presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $198.00.

FirstCash Profile

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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