Bessemer Group Inc. Acquires 11,261 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 320,190 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,261 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.72% of FirstCash worth $50,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 4.3% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in FirstCash by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,289,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in FirstCash by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 17,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstCash by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Rick L. Wessel sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.39, for a total transaction of $3,127,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 866,982 shares in the company, valued at $135,587,314.98. The trade was a 2.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Randel G. Owen sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.20, for a total value of $228,300.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,651 shares in the company, valued at $1,164,482.20. The trade was a 16.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 41,000 shares of company stock worth $6,481,395 over the last 90 days. 2.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCFS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of FirstCash in a report on Monday, December 8th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

FirstCash Price Performance

FirstCash stock opened at $177.65 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $164.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.71. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.51 and a 12 month high of $181.00. The company has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 4.99, a quick ratio of 3.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. FirstCash had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 17.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.12 earnings per share. Analysts expect that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, October 30th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

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.