Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $773,000 Holdings in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,498 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Upbound Group were worth $773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Upbound Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 268.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Upbound Group by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in Upbound Group by 374.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 2,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Upbound Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $229,000. Institutional investors own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Upbound Group

In other Upbound Group news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown acquired 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.01 per share, with a total value of $33,245.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 86,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,505,883.80. The trade was a 1.34 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens assumed coverage on Upbound Group in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Upbound Group from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Upbound Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.20.

Upbound Group Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of UPBD stock opened at $24.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.09 and a 200-day moving average of $30.59. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 2.05. Upbound Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.88 and a 1-year high of $38.72.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Upbound Group had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 35.47%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Upbound Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 18th. This is an increase from Upbound Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.59%.

Upbound Group Company Profile

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.