PROG (NYSE:PRG) Upgraded to Outperform at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of PROG (NYSE:PRG) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $48.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Loop Capital raised shares of PROG from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on PROG from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on PROG from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on PROG from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PROG has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

PROG Stock Performance

Shares of PROG stock opened at $42.92 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.76. PROG has a 52 week low of $26.39 and a 52 week high of $50.28. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52 and a beta of 2.11.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.01. PROG had a return on equity of 26.30% and a net margin of 4.57%. The business had revenue of $606.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $601.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. PROG’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that PROG will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

PROG Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. PROG’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PROG

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new stake in PROG during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PROG during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in PROG by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 805 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of PROG in the second quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of PROG during the first quarter worth about $59,000. 97.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.