Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 151,694 Shares of Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in Aaron's Holdings by 72.2%, ending the first quarter with 58,463 shares valued at $1,555,000.
• Recent analyst ratings show mixed assessments for Aaron's, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target averaging $41.00.
• Aaron's announced a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.7%, with a payout ratio of 10.28%.

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG - Free Report) by 72.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,463 shares of the company's stock after selling 151,694 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.14% of Aaron's worth $1,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aaron's by 765.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aaron's by 248.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Aaron's during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Aaron's by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aaron's during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $235,000. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aaron's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRG traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $31.34. The company had a trading volume of 514,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 475,623. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.75. Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.50 and a 12 month high of $50.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.71, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Aaron's (NYSE:PRG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $604.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $586.25 million. Aaron's had a net margin of 8.53% and a return on equity of 22.54%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Aaron's Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aaron's news, CFO Brian Garner bought 3,500 shares of Aaron's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.93 per share, with a total value of $101,255.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 132,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,836,031.21. This trade represents a 2.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven A. Michaels bought 14,000 shares of Aaron's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.03 per share, for a total transaction of $406,420.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 559,641 shares in the company, valued at $16,246,378.23. The trade was a 2.57% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PRG. Loop Capital decreased their target price 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aaron's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Aaron's from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, BTIG Research lowered shares of Aaron's from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aaron's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.00.

Aaron's Company Profile

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.