Legal & General Group Plc Grows Stake in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD)

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 138,447 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,555 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.25% of Upbound Group worth $4,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Upbound Group by 171.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 267,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,806,000 after acquiring an additional 169,197 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Upbound Group during the fourth quarter worth $4,883,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 559,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,310,000 after purchasing an additional 153,551 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Upbound Group in the fourth quarter valued at $4,328,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Upbound Group during the 4th quarter valued at $3,922,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Upbound Group Stock Up 2.8 %

UPBD stock opened at $20.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29 and a beta of 1.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.38. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. Upbound Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.69 and a twelve month high of $38.72.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. Upbound Group had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 35.47%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upbound Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.59%. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Upbound Group from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Upbound Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Insider Activity at Upbound Group

In other Upbound Group news, CFO Fahmi Karam acquired 11,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.82 per share, for a total transaction of $296,930.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 164,672 shares in the company, valued at $4,251,831.04. The trade was a 7.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

About Upbound Group

Upbound Group, Inc leases household durable goods to customers on a lease-to-own basis in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. It operates through four segments: Rent-A-Center, Acima, Mexico, and Franchising. The company's brands, such as Rent-A-Center and Acima that facilitate consumer transactions across a range of store-based and virtual channels.