Aaron's (NYSE:PRG) Trading Down 5.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Aaron's Holdings (NYSE:PRG) stock fell 5.7% after TD Cowen downgraded their price target from $38.00 to $37.00, maintaining a buy rating on the stock.
• Institutional investors have been actively trading the stock, with Breach Inlet Capital Management increasing its position by 140.7% in the first quarter.
• Aaron's reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.90, surpassing analyst estimates of $0.73, but its revenue was down 1.8% compared to the previous year.

Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG - Get Free Report) fell 5.7% during trading on Thursday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $38.00 to $37.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Aaron's traded as low as $30.60 and last traded at $30.72. 52,970 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 472,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.58.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on PRG. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aaron's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Aaron's in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Aaron's from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Aaron's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.43.

Institutional Trading of Aaron's

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRG. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aaron's by 140.7% in the first quarter. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC now owns 703,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,722,000 after acquiring an additional 411,459 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Aaron's in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,770,000. Vulcan Value Partners LLC lifted its stake in Aaron's by 84.3% in the 1st quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 681,746 shares of the company's stock worth $18,134,000 after purchasing an additional 311,917 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aaron's by 62.7% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 673,405 shares of the company's stock worth $17,913,000 after purchasing an additional 259,630 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Aaron's in the second quarter worth $6,191,000. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aaron's Stock Down 8.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.82, a current ratio of 5.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $33.61 and a 200-day moving average of $30.46.

Aaron's (NYSE:PRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.17. Aaron's had a net margin of 8.53% and a return on equity of 22.54%. The firm had revenue of $595.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $586.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Aaron's has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.350-3.450 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.550-0.650 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aaron's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. Aaron's's dividend payout ratio is 10.28%.

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.

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