PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) Short Interest Update

PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,690,000 shares, a decrease of 30.5% from the February 13th total of 2,430,000 shares. Currently, 4.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 491,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Insider Activity

In other PROG news, Director Caroline Sio-Chin Sheu acquired 1,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.01 per share, for a total transaction of $46,216.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,291 shares in the company, valued at $512,330.91. The trade was a 9.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Douglas C. Curling acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.88 per share, for a total transaction of $298,800.00. Following the purchase, the director now 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. Company insiders own 2.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of PROG in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,845,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in PROG by 170.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 29,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,255,000 after buying an additional 18,715 shares in the last quarter. Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in PROG during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,416,000. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in PROG during the fourth quarter worth approximately $288,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in PROG by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 123,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,235,000 after buying an additional 18,760 shares in the last quarter. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on PRG. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of PROG in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of PROG to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

PROG Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRG opened at $26.73 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.14. PROG has a 52 week low of $26.02 and a 52 week high of $50.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 2.14. The company has a current ratio of 5.24, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $623.30 million during 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 business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that PROG will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

PROG Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. PROG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.57%.

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.