State Street Corp Raises Stock Position in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD)

State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) by 2.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,028,224 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,814 shares during the period. State Street Corp’s holdings in Upbound Group were worth $64,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UPBD. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Upbound Group by 47.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 22,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Upbound Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 41,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after buying an additional 1,821 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 761,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,386,000 after acquiring an additional 15,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Upbound Group by 33.3% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 2,664 shares in the last quarter. 90.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Upbound Group

In other Upbound Group news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown acquired 1,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.25 per share, for a total transaction of $31,151.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 85,234 shares in the company, valued at $2,493,094.50. This represents a 1.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Upbound Group Trading Down 3.9 %

NASDAQ UPBD opened at $30.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00 and a beta of 2.03. Upbound Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.50 and a 1-year high of $38.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.58 and a 200-day moving average of $31.77. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 34.15% and a net margin of 1.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This is a positive change from Upbound Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 107.59%.

About Upbound Group

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.