Allianz Asset Management GmbH Acquires 127,384 Shares of Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG - Free Report) by 16.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 907,100 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 127,384 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned approximately 2.25% of Aaron's worth $24,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PRG. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aaron's in the 4th quarter worth approximately $620,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Aaron's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Aaron's by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 6,558 shares of the company's stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Aaron's by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 19,719 shares of the company's stock valued at $833,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Aaron's by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,937,208 shares of the company's stock valued at $208,646,000 after purchasing an additional 76,810 shares during the last quarter. 97.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aaron's Price Performance

PRG traded down $0.27 during trading on Monday, reaching $32.29. The stock had a trading volume of 56,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 505,123. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a current ratio of 5.71. Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. has a one year low of $23.50 and a one year high of $50.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.40 and a 200-day moving average of $30.92.

Aaron's (NYSE:PRG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.23. Aaron's had a return on equity of 22.54% and a net margin of 8.53%. The firm had revenue of $604.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $586.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aaron's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Aaron's's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.28%.

Insider Transactions at Aaron's

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aaron's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. BTIG Research downgraded Aaron's from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 14th. KeyCorp dropped their target price 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, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Aaron's from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aaron's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.00.

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.