Insider Buying: PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) Director Buys $298,800.00 in Stock

PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) Director Douglas C. Curling purchased 10,000 shares of PROG stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.88 per share, with a total value of $298,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 45,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,371,880.44. This trade represents a 27.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

PROG Stock Down 5.1 %

PROG stock opened at $27.69 on Thursday. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.62 and a fifty-two week high of $50.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 2.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.58. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $623.30 million for 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 EPS. Analysts predict that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PROG Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is an increase from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. PROG’s payout ratio is currently 10.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PROG

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PROG in the third quarter worth $33,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in PROG during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in PROG by 765.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in PROG by 141.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of PROG by 248.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of PROG in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of PROG to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, PROG currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

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.