Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) Stock: Insider Jeffrey Brown Buys 17,645 Shares

Key Points

• Director Jeffrey Brown purchased 17,645 shares for about $400,000 at an average price of $22.67, increasing his direct holdings by 17.84%. The article also reports that five other insiders bought shares around the same time, with purchases totaling about $1.24 million.
• Upbound beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting EPS of $1.01 versus analysts’ $0.91 estimate and revenue of $1.15 billion versus $1.12 billion expected. Revenue nevertheless declined 1.3% year over year.
• Shares rose 7.5% to $24.14, while analysts’ consensus rating remained Hold with an average $27 price target; the company’s annualized dividend yield was reported at 6.5%.

Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD - Get Free Report) Director Jeffrey Brown bought 17,645 shares of Upbound Group stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $22.67 per share, with a total value of $400,012.15. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 116,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,642,029.81. The trade was a 17.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Upbound Group Stock Up 7.5%

Shares of UPBD traded up $1.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.14. 1,834,245 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 944,464. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.91. Upbound Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.98 and a twelve month high of $24.30. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.12 billion. Upbound Group had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 33.81%. Upbound Group's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Upbound Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Upbound Group's payout ratio is currently 82.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upbound Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Upbound Group during the second quarter valued at about $194,216,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Upbound Group by 15.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,394,770 shares of the company's stock worth $43,227,000 after buying an additional 327,203 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Upbound Group during the second quarter worth about $37,565,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Upbound Group during the second quarter valued at about $18,862,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Upbound Group during the first quarter valued at about $7,455,000. 90.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Upbound Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Upbound Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Six insiders bought shares on November 2–3: directors Molly Langenstein, Jeffrey Brown and Glenn P. Marino, and EVPs Balaji Kumar, Rebecca Wooters and Halim Khouri. Their purchases totaled about $1.24 million; several increased their individual holdings by double-digit percentages. SEC filing SEC filing SEC filing SEC filing SEC filing SEC filing
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks described UPBD as a potential long-term growth stock based on its Style Scores, offering a favorable characterization, though the article entry provides no specific forecasts or new company results. Zacks article
• Negative Sentiment: A recent report said Upbound’s consensus price target fell 22.36% to MX$410.79, signaling weaker analyst expectations; the cited figure is in Mexican pesos. Price target report

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UPBD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Upbound Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. BTIG Research cut Upbound Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Upbound Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Upbound Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Upbound Group from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.00.

Upbound Group Company Profile

Upbound Group, Inc is a provider of consumer leasing and retail solutions, operating primarily through its Rent-A-Center and Acima brands. The company enables customers to obtain merchandise through flexible lease-to-own agreements and related payment options, serving consumers who may prefer alternatives to traditional retail financing.

Its Rent-A-Center business operates company-owned and franchised locations, as well as digital channels, offering furniture, appliances, electronics, computers, smartphones and other household goods.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.