Brokerages Set Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) Price Target at $39.17

Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. 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 company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.17.

A number of analysts have commented on UPBD shares. TD Cowen raised Upbound Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Stephens assumed coverage on Upbound Group in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital lowered 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Upbound Group from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Upbound Group Price Performance

UPBD opened at $29.54 on Thursday. Upbound Group has a 1 year low of $26.50 and a 1 year high of $38.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.41. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 3.66 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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

Upbound Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a positive change from Upbound Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 18th. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 107.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upbound Group

In related news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown bought 1,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.01 per share, for a total transaction of $33,245.46. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 86,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,505,883.80. The trade was a 1.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upbound Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of UPBD. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in Upbound Group by 112.7% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,827,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557,906 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 2,864.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 405,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,974,000 after buying an additional 391,888 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Upbound Group by 1,903.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 395,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,154,000 after purchasing an additional 376,129 shares in the last quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Upbound Group by 51.4% during the second quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 745,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,881,000 after buying an additional 253,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in shares of Upbound Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,607,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

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.