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

Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of PROG (NYSE:PRG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $29.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $58.00.

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

PROG Price Performance

PRG stock opened at $28.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.30 and a 200-day moving average of $44.38. PROG has a 12-month low of $27.61 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. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 2.18.

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

PROG Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.83%. This is an increase from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. PROG’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.57%.

Insider Transactions at PROG

In other news, Director Douglas C. Curling acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,371,880.44. This represents a 27.85 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 stock was bought 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 owns 18,291 shares in the company, valued at $512,330.91. This represents a 9.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PROG

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in PROG in the 4th quarter valued at $1,845,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of PROG by 170.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 29,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after acquiring an additional 18,715 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PROG during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,416,000. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PROG during the fourth quarter valued at about $288,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of PROG by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 123,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,235,000 after acquiring an additional 18,760 shares in the last quarter. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.