PROG (NYSE:PRG) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

PROG (NYSE:PRG) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on PRG. TD Cowen upped their price objective on PROG from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of PROG in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research raised PROG from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered PROG from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on PROG from $40.00 to $47.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PROG presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.70.

PROG Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRG opened at $38.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 4.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.17. PROG has a twelve month low of $25.80 and a twelve month high of $41.14.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The fintech holding company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $742.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $732.70 million. PROG had a return on equity of 21.94% and a net margin of 5.88%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. PROG has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.050-1.050 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PROG will post 4.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PROG

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRG. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PROG by 436.0% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,824,091 shares of the fintech holding company’s stock worth $53,792,000 after buying an additional 1,483,751 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of PROG by 588.0% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 840,029 shares of the fintech holding company’s stock valued at $24,100,000 after acquiring an additional 717,932 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of PROG by 102.4% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 823,663 shares of the fintech holding company’s stock valued at $26,654,000 after acquiring an additional 416,658 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of PROG by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,159,874 shares of the fintech holding company’s stock valued at $34,205,000 after acquiring an additional 317,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PROG by 62.7% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 673,405 shares of the fintech holding company’s stock worth $17,913,000 after buying an additional 259,630 shares in the last quarter. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PROG Company Profile

PROG Holdings, Inc, formerly known as Aaron’s, is a North American provider of lease-to-own and consumer finance solutions. The company operates through two primary segments: Aaron’s Business Solutions and Progressive Financial Services. Through Aaron’s Business Solutions, PROG offers customers access to furniture, electronics, home appliances and technology products via lease ownership arrangements, serving both individual consumers and small businesses.

The Progressive Financial Services segment provides lease-purchase and retail point-of-sale financing programs to customers with limited credit histories.