Brokerages Set Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) Target Price at $39.17

Shares of Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.17.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on UPBD shares. Stephens began coverage on Upbound Group in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Upbound Group from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Upbound Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, 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.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 85,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,493,094.50. This trade represents a 1.27 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upbound Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Upbound Group by 2,864.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 405,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,974,000 after buying an additional 391,888 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upbound Group during the second quarter valued at about $606,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 316,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,116,000 after acquiring an additional 94,333 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,028,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,883,000 after acquiring an additional 43,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Upbound Group by 153.0% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 98,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,148,000 after purchasing an additional 59,526 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Upbound Group Price Performance

UPBD stock opened at $29.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02. Upbound Group has a 12 month low of $26.50 and a 12 month high of $38.72. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.69.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.06. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 34.15% and a net margin of 1.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Upbound Group will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Upbound Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.23%. This is an increase from Upbound Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 107.59%.

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.