Bridgewater Associates LP Purchases 3,302 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)

Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 24.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,791 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,302 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $1,928,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in FirstCash during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,707,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstCash by 18.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,712,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $770,627,000 after buying an additional 1,037,601 shares during the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new position in FirstCash in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,268,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in FirstCash by 21.8% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 12,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in FirstCash by 137.2% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 34,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,920,000 after acquiring an additional 19,749 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ FCFS opened at $108.86 on Friday. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.62 and a twelve month high of $133.64. The stock has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company’s fifty day moving average is $109.79 and its 200-day moving average is $111.89.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.05. FirstCash had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 7.29%. The firm had revenue of $837.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $843.94 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. FirstCash’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FCFS. Stephens began coverage on FirstCash in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $137.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their target price on FirstCash from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Douglas Richard Rippel sold 3,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.94, for a total value of $404,677.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,731,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $567,540,367.86. This represents a 0.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of FirstCash stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.68, for a total value of $211,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,715 shares in the company, valued at $9,375,401.20. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,974 shares of company stock valued at $688,080. 14.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

FirstCash Profile

FirstCash Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates retail pawn stores in the United States, Mexico, and rest of Latin America. The company operates in three segments: U.S. Pawn, Latin America Pawn, and Retail POS Payment Solutions segments. Its pawn stores lend money on the collateral of pledged personal property, including jewelry, electronics, tools, appliances, sporting goods, and musical instruments; and retails merchandise acquired through collateral forfeitures on forfeited pawn loans and over-the-counter purchases of merchandise directly from customers.