By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG – Free Report) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 162,631 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,747 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.39% of PROG worth $6,873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of PROG in the third quarter worth $1,046,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in PROG during the 4th quarter valued at about $527,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in PROG by 141.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in PROG by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 377,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,951,000 after purchasing an additional 34,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PROG by 170.7% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 248,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,521,000 after buying an additional 157,006 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, Director Douglas C. Curling bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.88 per share, for a total transaction of $298,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 45,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,371,880.44. The trade was a 27.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Caroline Sio-Chin Sheu acquired 1,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.01 per share, with a total value of $46,216.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $512,330.91. This represents a 9.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.74% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
PROG Trading Up 0.1 %
NYSE:PRG opened at $25.36 on Monday. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.50 and a 12 month high of $50.28. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.98.
PROG (NYSE:PRG – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $623.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $612.67 million. PROG had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.
PROG Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. This is an increase from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. PROG’s payout ratio is currently 10.57%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
PRG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of PROG in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $29.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.
View Our Latest Analysis on PROG
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.
Further Reading
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