D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Acquires 228,784 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 349.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 294,281 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 228,784 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.66% of FirstCash worth $30,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in FirstCash during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in FirstCash by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 454 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of FirstCash by 986.5% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 565 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in FirstCash in the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in FirstCash during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,000. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstCash Stock Down 1.7%

FCFS stock traded down $2.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $129.91. The company had a trading volume of 356,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,993. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.24 and a 1 year high of $135.57. The company has a current ratio of 4.14, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $123.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.78.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.32. FirstCash had a net margin of 7.64% and a return on equity of 14.99%. The company had revenue of $836.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $837.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. The company's revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. FirstCash's payout ratio is 24.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCFS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of FirstCash from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $137.00 target price on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

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.