Great Lakes Advisors LLC Purchases 157,006 Shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) by 170.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,964 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 157,006 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in PROG were worth $10,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PROG by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 13,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PROG during the fourth quarter worth $101,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of PROG by 126.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 23,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 13,052 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PROG during the fourth quarter worth $620,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of PROG during the fourth quarter worth $527,000. Institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

PROG Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:PRG opened at $27.10 on Thursday. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.52 and a 1 year high of $50.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.24, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 2.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $37.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.43.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. PROG had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 8.01%. The firm had revenue of $623.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $612.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

PROG Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. This is a boost from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. PROG’s payout ratio is presently 10.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded PROG to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of PROG in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $29.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PROG presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at PROG

In other news, Director Caroline Sio-Chin Sheu acquired 1,650 shares of PROG stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.01 per share, with a total value of $46,216.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $512,330.91. This represents a 9.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas C. Curling acquired 10,000 shares of PROG stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.88 per share, with a total value of $298,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,371,880.44. This trade represents a 27.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.74% of the company’s stock.

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.