KBC Group NV Acquires 653 Shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)

KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS) by 54.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,859 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 653 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in FirstCash were worth $193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FCFS. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstCash by 157.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 569 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in FirstCash by 28.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of FirstCash in the 3rd quarter valued at about $133,000. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FirstCash during the third quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in FirstCash by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 2,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.30% of the company’s stock.

FirstCash Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FCFS opened at $112.59 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $107.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.79. The company has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 0.67. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.24 and a 52 week high of $133.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 3.15 and a current ratio of 4.14.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.10. FirstCash had a return on equity of 14.99% and a net margin of 7.64%. Analysts forecast that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. FirstCash’s payout ratio is 26.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on FCFS. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of FirstCash from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens started coverage on FirstCash in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $137.00 target price on the stock.

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.