Stephens Initiates Coverage on PROG (NYSE:PRG)

Analysts at Stephens initiated coverage on shares of PROG (NYSE:PRG) in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Stephens’ price target points to a potential upside of 25.55% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PRG. TD Cowen increased their price objective on PROG from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. KeyCorp raised their price target on PROG from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on PROG from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James raised shares of PROG from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of PROG from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PROG presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.83.

PROG Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE PRG opened at $47.79 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 4.97 and a quick ratio of 2.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 2.11. PROG has a one year low of $26.39 and a one year high of $50.28.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. PROG had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 24.56%. The firm had revenue of $606.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $601.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PROG will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Brian Garner sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.29, for a total transaction of $246,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,309,518.80. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael Todd King sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.97, for a total transaction of $70,455.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,738,688.49. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 119,207 shares of company stock valued at $5,759,152. Company insiders own 2.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRG. FMR LLC grew its stake in PROG by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,430,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,846,000 after buying an additional 30,030 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its position in PROG by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 896,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,076,000 after acquiring an additional 6,803 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in PROG by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 684,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,746,000 after buying an additional 84,497 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of PROG by 2.3% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 440,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,182,000 after purchasing an additional 9,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of PROG during the third quarter valued at approximately $19,079,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

PROG Company Profile

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.