Renaissance Technologies LLC Trims Stock Position in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its stake in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG - Free Report) by 35.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,184 shares of the company's stock after selling 83,500 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.37% of PROG worth $6,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PRG. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in PROG by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 19,719 shares of the company's stock worth $833,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PROG by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,176 shares of the company's stock valued at $684,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of PROG by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 74,075 shares of the company's stock worth $3,130,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of PROG by 53.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,015 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in PROG by 141.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PROG Price Performance

PRG traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $24.89. 129,140 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 450,404. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.88. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.50 and a 52-week high of $50.28. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a current ratio of 5.24, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

PROG (NYSE:PRG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $684.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $678.23 million. PROG had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 8.01%. On average, equities analysts forecast that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PROG Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. This is a positive change from PROG's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. PROG's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PRG shares. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of PROG from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of PROG in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of PROG from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PROG news, Director Douglas C. Curling purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.88 per share, for a total transaction of $298,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,371,880.44. The trade was a 27.85 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Caroline Sio-Chin Sheu acquired 1,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.01 per share, with a total value of $46,216.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,291 shares in the company, valued at $512,330.91. This represents a 9.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PROG 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.