Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCFS - Free Report) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,607 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,483 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.29% of FirstCash worth $13,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of FirstCash by 39.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,093 shares of the company's stock worth $1,618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,966 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of FirstCash by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,800 shares of the company's stock worth $1,240,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of FirstCash in the 3rd quarter valued at about $133,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstCash by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in FirstCash by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 8,519 shares of the company's stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.30% of the company's stock.

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FirstCash Price Performance

FCFS traded up $1.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $112.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 232,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 236,097. The company has a quick ratio of 3.15, a current ratio of 4.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.17. The company has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60 and a beta of 0.67. FirstCash Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.24 and a 1 year high of $133.64.

FirstCash (NASDAQ:FCFS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.10. FirstCash had a return on equity of 14.99% and a net margin of 7.64%. As a group, analysts anticipate that FirstCash Holdings, Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstCash Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. FirstCash's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $137.00 price target on shares of FirstCash in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Douglas Richard Rippel sold 300,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.43, for a total transaction of $34,029,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,431,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at $502,706,900.67. The trade was a 6.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO R Douglas Orr sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.35, for a total transaction of $226,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 100,567 shares in the company, valued at $11,399,269.45. The trade was a 1.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 14.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About FirstCash

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.