Contrasting Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) and Atlanticus Holdings Co. 6.125% Senior Notes due 2026 (NASDAQ:ATLCL)

Atlanticus Holdings Co. 6.125% Senior Notes due 2026 (NASDAQ:ATLCL) and Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Atlanticus Holdings Co. 6.125% Senior Notes due 2026 and Upbound Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atlanticus Holdings Co. 6.125% Senior Notes due 2026	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Upbound Group	$4.70 billion	0.24	$73.24 million	$1.54	12.77

Upbound Group has higher revenue and earnings than Atlanticus Holdings Co. 6.125% Senior Notes due 2026.

Profitability

This table compares Atlanticus Holdings Co. 6.125% Senior Notes due 2026 and Upbound Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atlanticus Holdings Co. 6.125% Senior Notes due 2026	N/A	N/A	N/A
Upbound Group	1.90%	34.53%	7.69%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Atlanticus Holdings Co. 6.125% Senior Notes due 2026 and Upbound Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atlanticus Holdings Co. 6.125% Senior Notes due 2026	0	0	0	0	0.00
Upbound Group	1	2	2	0	2.20

Upbound Group has a consensus target price of $30.67, indicating a potential upside of 55.99%. Given Upbound Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Upbound Group is more favorable than Atlanticus Holdings Co. 6.125% Senior Notes due 2026.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

90.3% of Upbound Group shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Upbound Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Upbound Group beats Atlanticus Holdings Co. 6.125% Senior Notes due 2026 on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Atlanticus Holdings Co. 6.125% Senior Notes due 2026

atlanticus holdings corporation (“atlanticus”​) is a financial holding company with investments primarily in companies focused on providing financial services. our subsidiaries offer a broad array of financial products and services. www.atlanticus.com

About Upbound Group

Upbound Group, Inc. leases household durable goods to customers on a lease-to-own basis in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. It operates through four segments: Rent-A-Center, Acima, Mexico, and Franchising. The company's brands, such as Rent-A-Center and Acima that facilitate consumer transactions across a range of store-based and virtual channels. It offers furniture comprising mattresses, tires, consumer electronics, appliances, tools, handbags, computers, smartphones, and accessories. It also provides merchandise on an installment sales basis; and the lease-to-own transaction to consumers who do not qualify for traditional financing, the lease to-own transaction through staffed or unstaffed kiosks located in third-party retailer's locations, and other virtual options. It operates retail installment sales stores under the Get It Now and Home Choice names; lease-to-own and franchised lease-to-own stores under the Rent-A-Centre, ColorTyme, and RimTyme names; and company-owned stores and e-commerce platform through rentacenter.com. The company was formerly known as Rent-A-Center, Inc. and changed its name to Upbound Group, Inc. in February 2023. Upbound Group, Inc. was founded in 1960 and is based in Plano, Texas.