Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 14,671 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $620,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in PROG by 5.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 22,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,096,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd raised its stake in shares of PROG by 268.2% in the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 4,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 3,631 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of PROG by 162.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 940 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of PROG during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,046,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in PROG by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,776,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,137,000 after purchasing an additional 114,498 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PRG. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of PROG in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $29.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

PROG Stock Performance

Shares of PROG stock opened at $25.07 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a quick ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 5.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.78 and a 52 week high of $50.28.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. PROG had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The firm had revenue of $623.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

PROG Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. PROG’s dividend payout ratio is 10.57%.

About PROG

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.