Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $1.85 Million in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 43,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,845,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of PROG at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRG. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in PROG by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 779,716 shares of the company's stock worth $32,951,000 after buying an additional 209,805 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in PROG by 2,008.0% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 178,550 shares of the company's stock worth $7,546,000 after buying an additional 170,080 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PROG by 170.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 248,964 shares of the company's stock worth $10,521,000 after buying an additional 157,006 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in PROG during the fourth quarter worth about $6,093,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of PROG 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 purchasing an additional 134,123 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on PRG. Loop Capital dropped their price target on PROG from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on PROG from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered PROG from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.83.

PROG Stock Down 0.9%

PROG stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.84. The stock had a trading volume of 481,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 475,554. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $27.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.26. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.50 and a 1-year high of $50.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 5.24.

PROG (NYSE:PRG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.08. PROG had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 8.01%. The business had revenue of $684.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $678.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. PROG's revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PROG Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. PROG's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.66%.

Insider Activity at PROG

In other news, CEO Steven A. Michaels purchased 14,000 shares of PROG stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.03 per share, for a total transaction of $406,420.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 559,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,246,378.23. This trade represents a 2.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brian Garner bought 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 132,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,836,031.21. This trade represents a 2.71% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About PROG

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.