PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.83.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on PROG from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on PROG from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James upgraded shares of PROG from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of PROG to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on shares of PROG in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company.

PROG Stock Down 2.0 %

PRG stock opened at $42.15 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $45.81 and a 200-day moving average of $43.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.68 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 4.97. PROG has a one year low of $27.84 and a one year high of $50.28.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $606.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $601.86 million. PROG had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 24.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that PROG will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

PROG Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. PROG’s payout ratio is 13.30%.

Insider Activity at PROG

In related news, CEO Steven A. Michaels sold 27,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.19, for a total transaction of $1,289,419.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 409,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,310,572.71. This represents a 6.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Curtis Linn Doman sold 62,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.75, for a total value of $3,062,231.25. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 174,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,508,045. This represents a 26.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 119,207 shares of company stock valued at $5,759,152 over the last ninety days. 2.74% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PROG

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in PROG in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $19,079,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PROG during the second quarter valued at approximately $8,794,000. Fourth Sail Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of PROG during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,500,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in PROG by 497.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 160,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,580,000 after purchasing an additional 133,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of PROG by 476.7% in the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 150,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,298,000 after purchasing an additional 124,397 shares in the last quarter. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About PROG

PROG Holdings, Inc (NYSE:PRG) is a financial technology holding company based in Salt Lake City, Utah with three business segments: Progressive Leasing, which offers lease-to-own transactions primarily to credit-challenged consumers through e-commerce and point-of-sale retail partners, via online, mobile, and in-store solutions; Vive Financial, which provides consumers who may not qualify for traditional prime lending with a variety of second-look, revolving credit products through private label and branded credit cards; and Four Technologies, which provides consumers of all credit backgrounds Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options through four interest-free installments via its platform, Four.