Northern Trust Corp Raises Stock Position in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 517,984 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,991 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in PROG were worth $21,890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PRG. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in PROG by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 779,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,951,000 after acquiring an additional 209,805 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in PROG by 2,008.0% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 178,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,546,000 after acquiring an additional 170,080 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in PROG by 170.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 248,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,521,000 after acquiring an additional 157,006 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in PROG during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,093,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in PROG by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,564,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,373,000 after purchasing an additional 134,123 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PROG

In other news, Director Douglas C. Curling purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $29.88 per share, for a total transaction of $298,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 45,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,371,880.44. This represents a 27.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Caroline Sio-Chin Sheu purchased 1,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.01 per share, with a total value of $46,216.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,291 shares in the company, valued at $512,330.91. The trade was a 9.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PROG Price Performance

Shares of PROG stock opened at $28.82 on Tuesday. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.50 and a 52-week high of $50.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.53 and a 200-day moving average of $36.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 5.24.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.08. PROG had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The company had revenue of $684.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

PROG Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. PROG’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of PROG from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of PROG from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Two research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, PROG currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.83.

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.