California Public Employees Retirement System Buys New Stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

California Public Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 55,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,423,000. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.13% of FirstCash as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstCash during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in FirstCash during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in FirstCash by 490.9% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. High Point Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in FirstCash during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in FirstCash by 113.2% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 194 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting FirstCash this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FirstCash posted record second-quarter results, with EPS of $2.50 beating estimates of $2.39 and revenue of $1.07 billion topping the $1.03 billion consensus. Management also said pawn demand helped drive a 58% increase in GAAP EPS and a 40% increase in adjusted EPS. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42 per share, signaling continued cash generation and shareholder returns. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: FirstCash also authorized a new $150 million share repurchase plan after completing its prior program, which can support earnings per share and investor confidence. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position reported, so it does not add a clear new catalyst for the shares.

Insider Transactions at FirstCash

In related news, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.29, for a total transaction of $454,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,121,980.86. The trade was a 5.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total transaction of $679,230.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,406 shares in the company, valued at $7,337,042.46. The trade was a 8.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,500 shares of company stock worth $6,243,104. 2.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

FirstCash Price Performance

Shares of FirstCash stock opened at $195.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 3.42 and a current ratio of 4.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $219.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $201.09. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $119.21 and a one year high of $235.97.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. FirstCash had a return on equity of 19.65% and a net margin of 9.42%.FirstCash’s quarterly revenue was up 29.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Equities analysts expect that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

FirstCash Profile

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.