FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS Stock Sold by New South Capital Management Inc.

New South Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 49.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,518 shares of the company’s stock after selling 79,838 shares during the period. FirstCash accounts for about 1.2% of New South Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. New South Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $17,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCFS. Jacobi Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in FirstCash in the third quarter worth $50,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of FirstCash by 150.2% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 11,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,401,000 after acquiring an additional 6,823 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 3.0% during the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 5,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 20.7% during the third quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 95,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,178,000 after acquiring an additional 16,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 3.2% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 41,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,694,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FCFS. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on FirstCash from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 10th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $242.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Loop Capital upgraded 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. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of FirstCash in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $247.50.

FirstCash Stock Up 0.3%

FCFS stock opened at $184.00 on Thursday. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $146.95 and a 1-year high of $238.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $207.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $206.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 4.81 and a quick ratio of 3.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94 and a beta of 0.59.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.05. FirstCash had a return on equity of 20.17% and a net margin of 9.48%. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.86 earnings per share. FirstCash’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This is a boost from FirstCash’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. FirstCash’s payout ratio is 19.93%.

FirstCash announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at FirstCash

In other news, COO Thomas Stuart sold 5,348 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.63, for a total value of $1,147,841.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 135,498 shares in the company, valued at $29,081,935.74. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO R. Orr sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.00, for a total transaction of $432,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,502,544. The trade was a 5.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,098 shares of company stock worth $3,051,281. 2.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

FirstCash Company Profile

FirstCash Holdings, Inc. operates pawn stores that provide short-term, non-recourse loans secured by personal property and sell previously owned merchandise. Its stores also purchase items from customers, including jewelry, electronics, tools and other goods. The company serves customers in the United States and Latin America, including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Colombia. Its retail operations offer a range of pre-owned goods, with jewelry among its key product categories. FirstCash was formed in 2016 through the merger of First Cash Financial Services and Cash America International.