Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) Upgraded at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

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

Upbound Group Price Performance

Shares of UPBD stock opened at $34.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 3.66. Upbound Group has a fifty-two week low of $26.50 and a fifty-two week high of $38.72. The firm has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72 and a beta of 2.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $30.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.61.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Upbound Group had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 34.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Upbound Group will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Upbound Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Upbound Group’s payout ratio is currently 102.07%.

Insider Activity at Upbound Group

In related news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown purchased 1,065 shares of Upbound Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $29.25 per share, for a total transaction of $31,151.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,234 shares in the company, valued at $2,493,094.50. This represents a 1.27 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upbound Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UPBD. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in Upbound Group by 112.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,827,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,190,000 after purchasing an additional 2,557,906 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Upbound Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,028,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,883,000 after buying an additional 43,814 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,217,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,968,000 after buying an additional 54,427 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Upbound Group by 3.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 914,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,240,000 after acquiring an additional 33,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Upbound Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 761,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,386,000 after acquiring an additional 15,219 shares in the last quarter. 90.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.