Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $17.77 Million Position in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its stake in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 420,492 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,117 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 1.01% of PROG worth $17,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of PROG by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 779,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,951,000 after acquiring an additional 209,805 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PROG by 170.7% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 248,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,521,000 after purchasing an additional 157,006 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PROG during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,093,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of PROG by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,776,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,137,000 after buying an additional 114,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in PROG by 115.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 196,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,294,000 after buying an additional 105,179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

PROG Stock Up 2.3 %

PRG stock opened at $28.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 5.24 and a quick ratio of 2.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 2.14. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.93 and a 52-week high of $50.28.

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

PROG Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is an increase from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. PROG’s payout ratio is presently 10.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PRG. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of PROG in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

PROG 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.