Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) Stock: Insider Jeffrey Brown Buys 17,645 Shares

Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) Director Jeffrey Brown bought 17,645 shares of Upbound Group stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $22.67 per share, with a total value of $400,012.15. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 116,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,642,029.81. The trade was a 17.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Upbound Group Stock Up 7.5%

Shares of UPBD traded up $1.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.14. 1,834,245 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 944,464. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.91. Upbound Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.98 and a twelve month high of $24.30. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. Upbound Group had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 33.81%. Upbound Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Upbound Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Upbound Group’s payout ratio is currently 82.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upbound Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Upbound Group during the second quarter valued at about $194,216,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Upbound Group by 15.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,394,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,227,000 after buying an additional 327,203 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Upbound Group during the second quarter worth about $37,565,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Upbound Group during the second quarter valued at about $18,862,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Upbound Group during the first quarter valued at about $7,455,000. 90.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Upbound Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Upbound Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Six insiders bought shares on November 2–3: directors Molly Langenstein, Jeffrey Brown and Glenn P. Marino, and EVPs Balaji Kumar, Rebecca Wooters and Halim Khouri. Their purchases totaled about $1.24 million; several increased their individual holdings by double-digit percentages. SEC filing SEC filing SEC filing SEC filing SEC filing SEC filing
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks described UPBD as a potential long-term growth stock based on its Style Scores, offering a favorable characterization, though the article entry provides no specific forecasts or new company results. Zacks article
• Negative Sentiment: A recent report said Upbound’s consensus price target fell 22.36% to MX$410.79, signaling weaker analyst expectations; the cited figure is in Mexican pesos. Price target report

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UPBD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Upbound Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. BTIG Research cut Upbound Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Upbound Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Upbound Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Upbound Group from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Upbound Group Company Profile

Upbound Group, Inc is a provider of consumer leasing and retail solutions, operating primarily through its Rent-A-Center and Acima brands. The company enables customers to obtain merchandise through flexible lease-to-own agreements and related payment options, serving consumers who may prefer alternatives to traditional retail financing.

Its Rent-A-Center business operates company-owned and franchised locations, as well as digital channels, offering furniture, appliances, electronics, computers, smartphones and other household goods.