Chase Investment Counsel Corp Buys New Stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new stake in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,598,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the second quarter valued at $69,779,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in FirstCash by 133.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 562,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,588,000 after purchasing an additional 321,663 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in FirstCash by 36.4% during the 4th 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. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in FirstCash by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 623,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,503,000 after purchasing an additional 251,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in FirstCash by 280.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 305,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,454,000 after purchasing an additional 225,466 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FCFS shares. TD Cowen upped 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. Loop Capital upgraded shares of FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of FirstCash from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.00.

FirstCash Stock Performance

NASDAQ FCFS opened at $214.75 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $214.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.58. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $135.64 and a twelve month high of $235.97. The company has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 4.89, a quick ratio of 3.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.39 by $0.11. The firm 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%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.18%.

Insider Activity at FirstCash

In related news, insider Howard F. Hambleton sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.41, for a total value of $679,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 32,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,337,042.46. The trade was a 8.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Raul Ramos sold 6,835 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.23, for a total transaction of $1,539,447.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 20,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,594,692. This trade represents a 25.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 13,000 shares of company stock worth $2,950,204 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

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.