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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.01 per share, for a total transaction of $33,245.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 86,380 shares in the company, valued at $2,505,883.80. The trade was a 1.34 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Upbound Group Stock Performance

Shares of Upbound Group stock traded down $0.75 on Friday, hitting $29.12. 462,812 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 541,102. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 3.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08 and a beta of 2.05. Upbound Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.50 and a 1 year high of $38.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.46.

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

Upbound Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th were issued 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 yield of 5.36%. This is an increase from Upbound Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Upbound Group’s payout ratio is currently 107.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upbound Group

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on UPBD shares. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Upbound Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stephens began coverage on Upbound Group in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen raised Upbound Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Upbound Group from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upbound Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.17.

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.