150,908 Shares in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS Purchased by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. acquired a new position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 150,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,371,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of FCFS. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of FirstCash by 3.2% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 7,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Clearwave Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the first quarter valued at $400,000. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstCash in the first quarter worth about $222,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in FirstCash in the 1st quarter worth about $304,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FirstCash news, Director Paula K. Garrett sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.40, for a total value of $326,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,427,013.60. This trade represents a 18.60% 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. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.29, for a total value of $454,580.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,121,980.86. The trade was a 5.30% 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. Insiders have sold 27,500 shares of company stock valued at $6,243,104 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FCFS shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen cut FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on FirstCash from $242.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research lowered FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut FirstCash from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.25.

FirstCash Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ FCFS traded down $2.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $218.61. 203,763 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 470,741. The company has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.69. The company has a quick ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 4.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $119.21 and a one year high of $235.97.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) 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. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 9.15%.FirstCash’s revenue was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given 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 yield of 0.8%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.05%.

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.