Optimize Financial Inc Makes New $315,000 Investment in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PRG. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PROG by 765.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PROG in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $620,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in PROG by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 423,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,897,000 after purchasing an additional 111,406 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of PROG by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,564,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,373,000 after buying an additional 134,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PROG by 38.1% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 6,350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of PROG in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $29.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.00.

PROG Stock Up 0.1 %

PROG stock opened at $25.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.24, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.50 and a 1-year high of $50.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.96.

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

PROG Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. PROG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.57%.

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.