Royce & Associates LP Sells 6,710 Shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Royce & Associates LP cut its stake in shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) by 16.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,835 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,710 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.08% of PROG worth $1,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PRG. Vestcor Inc grew its stake in shares of PROG by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 29,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,255,000 after buying an additional 3,118 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its position in PROG by 170.7% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 248,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,521,000 after acquiring an additional 157,006 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PROG by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 13,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in PROG in the fourth quarter valued at about $101,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of PROG by 126.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 23,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 13,052 shares in the last quarter. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of PROG in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of PROG to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Two research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Insider Transactions at PROG

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

PROG Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:PRG opened at $27.23 on Friday. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.93 and a 52 week high of $50.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 5.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.09 and its 200-day moving average is $42.61. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 2.14.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $623.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $612.67 million. PROG had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 8.01%. The business’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 10.57%.

About PROG

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.