Franklin Resources Inc. Has $2.18 Million Stock Holdings in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,411 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,186 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.11% of PROG worth $2,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PRG. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of PROG in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in PROG during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in PROG by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in PROG during the second quarter worth $47,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of PROG in the second quarter valued at $73,000. Institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PRG. Stephens started coverage on PROG in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of PROG from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James upgraded shares of PROG from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of PROG to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of PROG from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Brian Garner sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.29, for a total transaction of $246,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,309,518.80. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michael Todd King sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.97, for a total value of $70,455.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,738,688.49. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 119,207 shares of company stock valued at $5,759,152 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.74% of the company’s stock.

PROG Stock Up 1.2 %

PRG stock opened at $43.03 on Friday. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.84 and a 12 month high of $50.28. The company has a current ratio of 4.97, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 2.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.33.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. PROG had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 24.56%. The business had revenue of $606.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $601.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PROG Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. PROG’s payout ratio is 13.30%.

PROG 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.