Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 7,372 Shares of Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 32,791 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,372 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Upbound Group were worth $963,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 112.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,827,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,190,000 after buying an additional 2,557,906 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Upbound Group by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,028,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,883,000 after acquiring an additional 43,814 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Upbound Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,217,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,968,000 after acquiring an additional 54,427 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Upbound Group by 3.8% in 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 period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 761,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,386,000 after purchasing an additional 15,219 shares in the last quarter. 90.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Upbound Group

In other news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown bought 1,065 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.25 per share, with a total value of $31,151.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 85,234 shares in the company, valued at $2,493,094.50. The trade was a 1.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on UPBD. Loop Capital cut their price target on Upbound Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price 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 Upbound Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on shares of Upbound Group in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upbound Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.17.

Upbound Group Trading Down 2.7 %

Upbound Group stock opened at $29.20 on Friday. Upbound Group, Inc. has a one year low of $26.50 and a one year high of $38.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $31.60 and its 200 day moving average is $31.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 3.66 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Upbound Group had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 34.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 3.8 EPS for the current year.

Upbound Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.34%. This is a boost from Upbound Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 107.59%.

About Upbound Group

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.