PROG (NYSE:PRG) Research Coverage Started at Stephens

Stephens initiated coverage on shares of PROG (NYSE:PRG) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Loop Capital raised shares of PROG from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $41.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on PROG from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on PROG from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James upgraded PROG from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on PROG from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.83.

PROG Stock Performance

Shares of PRG traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $47.72. 330,614 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 410,343. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.22 and a beta of 2.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $46.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.23. PROG has a 1-year low of $26.39 and a 1-year high of $50.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 4.97.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.01. PROG had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 24.56%. The business had revenue of $606.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $601.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that PROG will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PROG Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 19th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. PROG’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Brian Garner sold 15,484 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.27, for a total value of $747,412.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 92,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,452,231.72. This represents a 14.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael Todd King sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.97, for a total value of $70,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,738,688.49. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 119,207 shares of company stock valued at $5,759,152 over the last 90 days. 2.74% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PRG. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of PROG in the third quarter valued at $19,079,000. Diversify Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in PROG during the second quarter worth $8,794,000. SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PROG in the first quarter valued at $5,932,000. Fourth Sail Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of PROG in the second quarter valued at $5,500,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in PROG by 497.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 160,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,580,000 after acquiring an additional 133,972 shares during the last quarter. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PROG Company 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.