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

PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,380,000 shares, a drop of 19.0% from the April 30th total of 2,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 590,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days. Approximately 6.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp cut their target price on PROG from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on PROG from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target 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 assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.83.

PROG Stock Performance

Shares of PRG opened at $28.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 1.81. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $27.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.13. PROG has a 52 week low of $23.50 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.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 8.01%. PROG’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that PROG will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PROG Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. PROG’s dividend payout ratio is 10.66%.

Insider Transactions at PROG

In other PROG news, CEO Steven A. Michaels acquired 14,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.03 per share, for a total transaction of $406,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 559,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,246,378.23. This represents a 2.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brian Garner purchased 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.93 per share, for a total transaction of $101,255.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 132,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,836,031.21. The trade was a 2.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 3.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PROG

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PROG by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,005,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,148,000 after acquiring an additional 68,369 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of PROG by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,564,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,373,000 after buying an additional 134,123 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in PROG by 16.3% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 907,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,129,000 after buying an additional 127,384 shares in the last quarter. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC increased its stake in PROG by 140.7% during the 1st quarter. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC now owns 703,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,722,000 after acquiring an additional 411,459 shares during the period. Finally, Vulcan Value Partners LLC raised its holdings in PROG by 84.3% in the 1st quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 681,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,134,000 after acquiring an additional 311,917 shares in the last quarter. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.