Stock Traders Buy High Volume of PROG Put Options (NYSE:PRG)

PROG Holdings, Inc (NYSE:PRG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 17,447 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 20,670% compared to the average daily volume of 84 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael King sold 1,070 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $49,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 60,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,797,950. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO George M. Sewell sold 2,000 shares of PROG stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.53, for a total value of $91,060.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 28,385 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,369.05. This trade represents a 6.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 4,000 shares of company stock valued at $183,060 in the last quarter. 3.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PROG

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of PROG in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PROG during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of PROG by 61.9% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 897 shares of the fintech holding company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of PROG in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of PROG in the 1st quarter valued at about $129,000. Institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PRG. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of PROG from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $50.00 target price on shares of PROG in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of PROG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of PROG from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of PROG from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.19.

PROG Price Performance

PROG stock traded down $1.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.84. 1,265,755 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 541,185. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.25 and a beta of 1.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $38.21 and its 200-day moving average is $36.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. PROG has a 12 month low of $25.80 and a 12 month high of $47.73.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The fintech holding company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $719.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.50 million. PROG had a return on equity of 21.88% and a net margin of 5.57%.PROG has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.000-1.200 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.750-5.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PROG will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

PROG Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 18th. PROG’s payout ratio is currently 15.47%.

About PROG

PROG Holdings, Inc is a financial technology company that provides flexible payment and lease-to-own solutions to consumers and retail partners. Its primary business is Progressive Leasing, an omnichannel lease-to-own platform that enables customers to acquire products through participating retailers and repay over time through structured lease payments.

Progressive Leasing supports purchases across categories such as furniture, appliances, electronics, mattresses, jewelry and other household goods.