PROG (NYSE:PRG) Upgraded by TD Cowen to Strong-Buy Rating

TD Cowen upgraded shares of PROG (NYSE:PRG) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James raised PROG from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on PROG from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of PROG from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of PROG in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded shares of PROG from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.83.

PROG Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE PRG opened at $48.66 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.15. PROG has a 12 month low of $26.62 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 company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 2.11.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $606.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $601.86 million. PROG had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 24.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that PROG will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PROG Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. PROG’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.30%.

Insider Transactions at PROG

In related news, VP George M. Sewell sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.88, for a total value of $171,080.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,639 shares in the company, valued at $617,794.32. This trade represents a 21.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Steven A. Michaels sold 27,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.19, for a total transaction of $1,289,419.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 409,209 shares in the company, valued at $19,310,572.71. This trade represents a 6.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 119,207 shares of company stock valued at $5,759,152 in the last 90 days. 2.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new stake in PROG in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PROG in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of PROG by 72.0% in the third 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 shares of PROG during the second quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in PROG by 162.9% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 940 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

PROG Company 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.