Aaron's (NYSE:PRG) Lowered to Sell Rating by BTIG Research

BTIG Research downgraded shares of Aaron's (NYSE:PRG - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. BTIG Research currently has $24.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PRG. Loop Capital lowered their target price 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. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Aaron's from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.86.

Aaron's Price Performance

NYSE:PRG traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $28.87. 110,343 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 475,602. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 4.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Aaron's has a 1 year low of $23.50 and a 1 year high of $50.28. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.64.

Aaron's (NYSE:PRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.08. Aaron's had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 23.11%. The business had revenue of $684.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $678.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aaron's will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aaron's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. Aaron's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.66%.

Insider Activity at Aaron's

In related news, CEO Steven A. Michaels acquired 14,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.03 per share, with a total value of $406,420.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 559,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,246,378.23. The trade was a 2.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brian Garner purchased 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired 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 owned 132,597 shares in the company, valued at $3,836,031.21. The trade was a 2.71% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aaron's

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PRG. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in Aaron's during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,577,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Aaron's by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 144,466 shares of the company's stock worth $6,105,000 after acquiring an additional 23,536 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aaron's during the first quarter valued at $388,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Aaron's by 41.9% in the first quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 105,148 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,797,000 after purchasing an additional 31,073 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aaron's by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 354,918 shares of the company's stock worth $14,999,000 after purchasing an additional 18,843 shares during the last quarter. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Aaron's

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.