Axa S.A. Purchases 46,502 Shares of Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD)

AXA S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD - Free Report) by 63.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 119,925 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 46,502 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A. owned approximately 0.22% of Upbound Group worth $3,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Upbound Group in the fourth quarter worth $221,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Upbound Group by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 653,053 shares of the company's stock worth $19,050,000 after acquiring an additional 117,926 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC increased its holdings in Upbound Group by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 23,913 shares of the company's stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,553 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp bought a new stake in Upbound Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $309,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Upbound Group by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 20,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 3,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UPBD. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Upbound Group from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Upbound Group in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.60.

Upbound Group Price Performance

NASDAQ UPBD traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $25.73. The company had a trading volume of 92,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,130. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 3.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 1.77. Upbound Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.69 and a 52 week high of $38.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.74.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Upbound Group had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 35.47%. Upbound Group's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Upbound Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 2nd. Upbound Group's payout ratio is 73.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upbound Group

In other Upbound Group news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown bought 1,694 shares of Upbound Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.89 per share, for a total transaction of $33,693.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 88,074 shares in the company, valued at $1,751,791.86. This represents a 1.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Fahmi Karam bought 11,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.82 per share, for a total transaction of $296,930.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 164,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,251,831.04. The trade was a 7.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 34,924 shares of company stock valued at $846,711 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

About Upbound Group

Upbound Group, Inc leases household durable goods to customers on a lease-to-own basis in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. It operates through four segments: Rent-A-Center, Acima, Mexico, and Franchising. The company's brands, such as Rent-A-Center and Acima that facilitate consumer transactions across a range of store-based and virtual channels.