First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Stake in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its holdings in shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) by 37.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,256 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,550 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.17% of PROG worth $3,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in PROG by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 19,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PROG by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $684,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of PROG by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 74,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,130,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in PROG by 53.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in PROG by 141.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of PROG from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on PROG from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.83.

PROG Trading Up 1.7 %

PRG opened at $27.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 5.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.96. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.50 and a 52 week high of $50.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.75.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $684.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.23 million. PROG had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

PROG Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. This is a boost from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. PROG’s payout ratio is presently 10.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Douglas C. Curling bought 10,000 shares of PROG stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.88 per share, with a total value of $298,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 45,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,371,880.44. This trade represents a 27.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Caroline Sio-Chin Sheu purchased 1,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.01 per share, with a total value of $46,216.50. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.21% 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.