Jeffrey J. Brown Purchases 1,146 Shares of Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) Stock

Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) Director Jeffrey J. Brown acquired 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.01 per share, with a total value of $33,245.46. Following the purchase, the director now owns 86,380 shares in the company, valued at $2,505,883.80. This represents a 1.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Upbound Group Price Performance

UPBD opened at $29.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.44. Upbound Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.50 and a fifty-two week high of $38.72. The firm has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08 and a beta of 2.05.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 34.15% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Upbound Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.36%. This is a positive change from Upbound Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 107.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UPBD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Upbound Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Upbound Group in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded Upbound Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Upbound Group from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.17.

Institutional Trading of Upbound Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 2,864.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 405,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,974,000 after purchasing an additional 391,888 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Upbound Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $606,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Upbound Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,217,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,968,000 after acquiring an additional 54,427 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Upbound Group by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 316,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,116,000 after acquiring an additional 94,333 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,028,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,883,000 after purchasing an additional 43,814 shares in the last quarter. 90.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Upbound Group Company Profile

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.