Mackenzie Financial Corp Has $1.15 Million Stock Holdings in Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp has increased its stake in Aaron's Holdings Company by 45.7%, acquiring an additional 13,585 shares, and now holds a total of 43,291 shares valued at approximately $1.15 million.
• Aaron's recently reported earnings of $1.02 per share, surpassing expectations, and saw a 2.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $604.66 million for the quarter ending July 23rd.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, yielding 1.7%, and has a dividend payout ratio of 10.28%.

Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG - Free Report) by 45.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,291 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,585 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.11% of Aaron's worth $1,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PRG. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Aaron's by 2,008.0% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 178,550 shares of the company's stock worth $7,546,000 after acquiring an additional 170,080 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Aaron's in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,093,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Aaron's by 5.5% in the 4th 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. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Aaron's by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 907,100 shares of the company's stock worth $24,129,000 after acquiring an additional 127,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Aaron's in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,982,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PRG. Loop Capital cut their price target on Aaron's from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Aaron's from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aaron's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. 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 report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Aaron's Price Performance

Shares of PRG traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.34. The stock had a trading volume of 514,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 475,623. Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.50 and a 52 week high of $50.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 5.71 and a quick ratio of 2.82. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $29.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.34. The company has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 1.75.

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

Aaron's Announces Dividend

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

Aaron's 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.