PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.00.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of PROG to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $29.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of PROG in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

PROG Trading Down 3.3 %

PROG stock opened at $26.14 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 5.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. PROG has a 12 month low of $26.02 and a 12 month high of $50.28. The stock has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 2.14.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. PROG had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The business had revenue of $623.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $612.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. PROG’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PROG will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PROG Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. PROG’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PROG

In other news, Director Douglas C. Curling purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $29.88 per share, for a total transaction of $298,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 45,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,371,880.44. The trade was a 27.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Caroline Sio-Chin Sheu purchased 1,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.01 per share, with a total value of $46,216.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $512,330.91. This trade represents a 9.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PROG

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRG. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PROG during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of PROG by 765.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of PROG by 141.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of PROG by 248.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PROG during the fourth quarter valued at about $68,000. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.