PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) Short Interest Up 24.4% in March

PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,500,000 shares, a growth of 24.4% from the March 15th total of 2,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 563,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 6.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRG has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PROG from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on PROG from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Loop Capital lowered their target price on PROG from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of PROG in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PROG presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at PROG

In other PROG news, Director Douglas C. Curling purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.88 per share, with a total value of $298,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 45,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,371,880.44. This represents a 27.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 price of $28.01 per share, with a total value of $46,216.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,291 shares in the company, valued at $512,330.91. The trade was a 9.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 3.21% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRG. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of PROG during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PROG by 765.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PROG by 141.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of PROG by 248.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PROG during the fourth quarter valued at about $68,000. 97.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PROG Trading Up 3.3 %

PRG stock traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $25.78. The stock had a trading volume of 535,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 453,233. The company has a current ratio of 5.24, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.50. PROG has a 1-year low of $23.50 and a 1-year high of $50.28. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 1.96.

PROG (NYSE:PRG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $684.09 million for 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, sell-side analysts predict that PROG will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PROG Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is a positive change from PROG's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. PROG's payout ratio is currently 10.66%.

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.