PROG (NYSE:PRG) Upgraded at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of PROG (NYSE:PRG) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on PRG. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of PROG from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stephens started coverage on shares of PROG in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of PROG from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James raised PROG from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Loop Capital raised PROG from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company 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, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.83.

PROG Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE PRG opened at $48.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 4.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 2.11. PROG has a 52-week low of $26.62 and a 52-week high of $50.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.24.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. PROG had a return on equity of 24.56% and a net margin of 6.55%. The business had revenue of $606.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $601.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that PROG will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

PROG Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. PROG’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Brian Garner sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.29, for a total transaction of $246,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,309,518.80. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven A. Michaels sold 27,324 shares of PROG stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.19, for a total transaction of $1,289,419.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 409,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,310,572.71. The trade was a 6.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 119,207 shares of company stock worth $5,759,152 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRG. Diversify Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PROG in the second quarter worth approximately $8,794,000. Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of PROG in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,500,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PROG during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,084,000. Burney Co. grew its stake in shares of PROG by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. Burney Co. now owns 86,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,996,000 after buying an additional 16,810 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PROG during the 3rd quarter worth $1,972,000. 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.