Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.39

Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 4th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.39 per share on Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 18th. This is a boost from Upbound Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37.

Upbound Group has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 1.9% annually over the last three years. Upbound Group has a payout ratio of 33.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Upbound Group to earn $4.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.3%.

Upbound Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UPBD traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 299,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,579. The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.37 and a beta of 2.03. Upbound Group has a fifty-two week low of $26.50 and a fifty-two week high of $38.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 3.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $31.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.67.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 34.15% and a net margin of 1.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Upbound Group will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UPBD. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Upbound Group from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Stephens started coverage on shares of Upbound Group in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Upbound Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Upbound Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Upbound Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.17.

Insider Activity at Upbound Group

In related news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown bought 1,065 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.25 per share, with a total value of $31,151.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,493,094.50. This trade represents a 1.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Upbound Group Company Profile

Upbound Group, Inc leases household durable goods to customers on a lease-to-own basis in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. It operates through four segments: Rent-A-Center, Acima, Mexico, and Franchising. The company's brands, such as Rent-A-Center and Acima that facilitate consumer transactions across a range of store-based and virtual channels.