Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Buys New Position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)

Key Points

• Zions Bancorporation National Association UT has acquired a new stake in FirstCash Holdings, purchasing 17,903 shares valued at approximately $2,154,000 during the first quarter.
• FirstCash has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.38 to $0.42 per share, reflecting a positive indication for shareholders.
• According to analysts, FirstCash's stock rating was downgraded from a "strong-buy" to a "buy", with a price target set at $160.00.

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 17,903 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,154,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI lifted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 76.1% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 1,303,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $135,046,000 after buying an additional 563,265 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 26,021.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 259,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,241,000 after buying an additional 258,657 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 349.3% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 294,281 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,488,000 after buying an additional 228,784 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstCash during the 4th quarter valued at $21,701,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of FirstCash during the 4th quarter valued at $18,169,000. 80.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on FCFS shares. Wall Street Zen cut FirstCash from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Capital One Financial set a $160.00 price target on FirstCash in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th.

FirstCash Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of FirstCash stock traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $139.61. The stock had a trading volume of 122,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 304,599. The company has a quick ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 4.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.45 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $131.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.55. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.24 and a 12-month high of $139.93.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 company's revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from FirstCash's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. FirstCash's payout ratio is presently 23.35%.

Insider Activity

In other FirstCash news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,900 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.93, for a total transaction of $510,627.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James H. Graves sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $807,360.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,132,237.76. This trade represents a 27.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 14.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.