Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with a target price forecast of $41.00.
• The company reported earnings per share of $1.02 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.79, along with a revenue of $604.66 million.
• Aaron's has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend yield of 1.7% and a payout ratio of 10.28%.

Shares of Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.00.

PRG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Aaron's from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. BTIG Research downgraded Aaron's from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, July 14th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Aaron's from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aaron's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th.

Insider Activity at Aaron's

In other Aaron's news, CEO Steven A. Michaels bought 14,000 shares of Aaron's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $29.03 per share, for a total transaction of $406,420.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 559,641 shares in the company, valued at $16,246,378.23. This represents a 2.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brian Garner acquired 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.93 per share, with a total value of $101,255.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 132,597 shares in the company, 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. 3.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRG. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aaron's in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Aaron's by 785.6% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,045 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Aaron's by 66.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in Aaron's by 157.6% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,391 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Aaron's by 765.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. 97.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aaron's Stock Performance

NYSE:PRG traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $31.33. The company had a trading volume of 289,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 502,652. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.75. Aaron's has a 1-year low of $23.50 and a 1-year high of $50.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 5.71 and a quick ratio of 2.82. The business's 50 day moving average price is $29.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.51.

Aaron's (NYSE:PRG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $604.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $586.25 million. Aaron's had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.53%. The firm's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Aaron's will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Aaron's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Aaron's's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.28%.

Aaron's 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.