Fmr LLC Decreases Position in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD)

Fmr LLC reduced its stake in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,320,993 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,436,968 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Upbound Group worth $138,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPBD. Algert Global LLC grew its position in shares of Upbound Group by 82.8% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 265,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,498,000 after buying an additional 120,345 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Upbound Group by 26.8% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 118,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,776,000 after acquiring an additional 24,983 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 33,167 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Upbound Group by 288.6% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 95,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,071,000 after purchasing an additional 71,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 102,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on UPBD shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Upbound Group from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Upbound Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Upbound Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stephens began coverage on shares of Upbound Group in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.17.

Upbound Group Price Performance

Shares of UPBD opened at $34.24 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $30.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.64. Upbound Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.50 and a twelve month high of $38.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61 and a beta of 2.03.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last posted its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 34.15% and a net margin of 1.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Upbound Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 102.07%.

Insider Activity at Upbound Group

In other news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown bought 1,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.25 per share, for a total transaction of $31,151.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 85,234 shares in the company, valued at $2,493,094.50. This trade represents a 1.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Upbound Group 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.