Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 42,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,117,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Aaron's as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aaron's by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,937,208 shares of the company's stock worth $208,646,000 after acquiring an additional 76,810 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aaron's by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,564,441 shares of the company's stock worth $108,373,000 after acquiring an additional 134,123 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Aaron's by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 562,539 shares of the company's stock worth $23,773,000 after buying an additional 9,162 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Aaron's by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 517,984 shares of the company's stock worth $21,890,000 after buying an additional 33,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Aaron's by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 423,505 shares of the company's stock worth $17,897,000 after buying an additional 111,406 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.92% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aaron's

In other news, CEO Steven A. Michaels bought 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,246,378.23. This represents a 2.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Brian Garner bought 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.93 per share, with a total value of $101,255.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 132,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PRG. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Aaron's from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Aaron's from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Aaron's from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.86.

Aaron's Trading Down 0.8%

PRG traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.60. 385,387 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 479,424. Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.50 and a fifty-two week high of $50.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 4.98. The company's fifty day moving average price is $29.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.38.

Aaron's (NYSE:PRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $684.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $678.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Aaron's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. Aaron's's payout ratio is currently 10.66%.

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.