2,400 Shares in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amundi lifted its stake in PROG by 126.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 23,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 13,052 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in PROG in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $620,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in PROG in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $527,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in PROG by 141.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in PROG by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 46,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after buying an additional 5,944 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

PROG Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:PRG opened at $26.52 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.97. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.99 and a 12-month high of $50.28. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 2.14. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. PROG had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 8.01%. The firm had revenue of $623.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. PROG’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

PROG Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. PROG’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of PROG in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $58.00 to $29.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, TD Cowen raised PROG to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PROG has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Douglas C. Curling bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.88 per share, for a total transaction of $298,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,913 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Caroline Sio-Chin Sheu bought 1,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.01 per share, for a total transaction of $46,216.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $512,330.91. This represents a 9.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.