Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) Shares Gap Up to $30.43

Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $30.43, but opened at $32.00. Upbound Group shares last traded at $31.49, with a volume of 4,553 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UPBD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Upbound Group from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Upbound Group in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.25.

Upbound Group Trading Up 4.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.43 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.58. The company has a current ratio of 3.96, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 32.94% and a net margin of 1.31%. Upbound Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Upbound Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.67%. Upbound Group’s payout ratio is -321.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upbound Group news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown bought 1,031 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.82 per share, for a total transaction of $30,744.42. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 84,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,509,919.58. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Upbound Group news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown bought 1,031 shares of Upbound Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.82 per share, with a total value of $30,744.42. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 84,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,509,919.58. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ralph T. Montrone sold 15,000 shares of Upbound Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.48, for a total transaction of $487,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,074 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,603.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,005,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,453,000 after acquiring an additional 209,422 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 112.7% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,827,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,190,000 after buying an additional 2,557,906 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,148,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,981,000 after buying an additional 62,832 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 43.0% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,693,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,635,000 after buying an additional 509,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Upbound Group by 2.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 761,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,386,000 after acquiring an additional 15,219 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

About Upbound Group

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.