77,000 Shares in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) Acquired by Clark Estates Inc. NY

Key Points

• Clark Estates Inc. NY acquired 77,000 shares of Upbound Group, Inc., valued at approximately $1.845 million, representing a 0.13% ownership stake after the purchase.
• Vanguard Group Inc. and GAMMA Investing LLC significantly increased their holdings in Upbound Group, with GAMMA boosting its position by 5,179.7% during the first quarter.
• Upbound Group reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.00, exceeding analyst expectations, and maintains a dividend yield of 6.30% with a recent quarterly dividend of $0.39 per share.

Clark Estates Inc. NY acquired a new position in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 77,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,845,000. Clark Estates Inc. NY owned 0.13% of Upbound Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 5,179.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,196 shares of the company's stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 11,965 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Upbound Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,781,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $197,804,000 after acquiring an additional 113,212 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Upbound Group by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 138,447 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,038,000 after acquiring an additional 4,555 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Upbound Group by 209.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 46,796 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 31,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Upbound Group by 40.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 47,670 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 13,713 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Upbound Group

In related news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown purchased 1,653 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.90 per share, with a total value of $42,812.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 89,400 shares in the company, valued at $2,315,460. This trade represents a 1.88% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Upbound Group in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Upbound Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.50.

Upbound Group Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of UPBD traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.72. The company had a trading volume of 1,725,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 637,314. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 3.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $24.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.07. Upbound Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.65 and a 52 week high of $36.00. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 1.74.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.07. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 36.26% and a net margin of 2.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.28 EPS for the current year.

Upbound Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. Upbound Group's payout ratio is currently 73.24%.

Upbound Group Profile

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.