Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Invests $718,000 in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. $FCFS

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in FirstCash in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 490.9% in the fourth 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 during the period. High Point Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstCash in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in FirstCash during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. 80.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on FCFS shares. Loop Capital upgraded FirstCash from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded FirstCash from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Zacks Research downgraded FirstCash from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of FirstCash from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.00.

FirstCash Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of FCFS opened at $236.43 on Tuesday. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $144.40 and a one year high of $238.38. The company has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 4.89 and a quick ratio of 3.51. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.62.

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

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FirstCash news, SVP Raul Ramos sold 6,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 20,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,594,692. The trade was a 25.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.00, for a total value of $432,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,502,544. The trade was a 5.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 20,348 shares of company stock valued at $4,492,755 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.86% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Company 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.