The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $8.16 Million in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 37,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,165,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstCash in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,088,429,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the second quarter valued at approximately $69,779,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 133.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 562,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,588,000 after purchasing an additional 321,663 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in FirstCash by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,169,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,361,000 after purchasing an additional 312,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas FRM LLC bought a new position in FirstCash in the second quarter worth approximately $58,406,400. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other FirstCash news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.98, for a total value of $425,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,406 shares in the company, valued at $6,475,869.88. This trade represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 5,348 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.63, for a total transaction of $1,147,841.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 135,498 shares in the company, valued at $29,081,935.74. This represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,183 shares of company stock worth $3,761,228. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FCFS. Weiss Ratings lowered FirstCash from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Zacks Research lowered FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.00.

FirstCash Price Performance

Shares of FCFS stock opened at $219.21 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $214.22 and its 200 day moving average is $208.87. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.56 and a 1-year high of $238.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 4.89 and a quick ratio of 3.51. The company has a market cap of $9.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.02 and a beta of 0.53.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. FirstCash had a net margin of 9.42% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. FirstCash’s payout ratio is 19.18%.

About FirstCash

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.