BNP Paribas Financial Markets Makes New $4.58 Million Investment in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 108,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,577,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in PROG by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,937,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,646,000 after buying an additional 76,810 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in PROG by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,564,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,373,000 after acquiring an additional 134,123 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of PROG by 36.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of PROG by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 562,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,773,000 after acquiring an additional 9,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of PROG by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 517,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,890,000 after purchasing an additional 33,991 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PROG

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

PROG Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRG opened at $28.96 on Wednesday. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.50 and a fifty-two week high of $50.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 5.24. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 6.38 and a beta of 1.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.88.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $684.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.23 million. PROG had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 24.25%. PROG’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PROG Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of PROG from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased 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. Two equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PROG presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.