JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 117,788 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 96.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 240,441 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 117,788 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.54% of FirstCash worth $38,091,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in FirstCash in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in FirstCash by 127.8% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of FirstCash in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of FirstCash by 70.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of FirstCash during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. 80.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FCFS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstCash in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.25.

FirstCash Stock Up 1.9%

FCFS opened at $192.08 on Friday. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.21 and a 12 month high of $199.60. The company has a current ratio of 4.55, a quick ratio of 3.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $181.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $164.92. The company has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.89 and a beta of 0.46.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.10. FirstCash had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 9.02%.The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. FirstCash’s quarterly revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. FirstCash’s payout ratio is presently 22.64%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas Brent Stuart sold 10,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.53, for a total value of $1,825,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 150,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,533,920.38. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.12, for a total transaction of $740,480.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 35,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,554,358.72. This represents a 10.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,783,985. 2.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.