PROG (NYSE:PRG) Cut to “Hold” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PROG (NYSE:PRG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $29.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $58.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on PRG. TD Cowen raised PROG to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of PROG in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

PROG Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of PRG stock opened at $27.69 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 2.18. PROG has a 12 month low of $27.62 and a 12 month high of $50.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.24, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $623.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $612.67 million. PROG had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 8.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that PROG will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

PROG Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is an increase from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. PROG’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.57%.

Insider Activity at PROG

In other PROG news, Director Douglas C. Curling acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $29.88 per share, for a total transaction of $298,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,371,880.44. This trade represents a 27.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.74% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PROG

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRG. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in PROG in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PROG by 765.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PROG by 141.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of PROG by 248.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in PROG by 162.9% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 940 shares during the period. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About PROG

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.