Two Sigma Advisers LP Sells 12,200 Shares of Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lowered its position in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) by 37.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,200 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in Upbound Group were worth $598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UPBD. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Upbound Group by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 316,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,116,000 after acquiring an additional 94,333 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Upbound Group by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Upbound Group in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its holdings in Upbound Group by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Upbound Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 80,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,361,000 after acquiring an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UPBD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Upbound Group in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Upbound Group from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown bought 21,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.75 per share, for a total transaction of $516,087.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $516,087.50. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Fahmi Karam bought 11,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.82 per share, with a total value of $296,930.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 34,924 shares of company stock worth $846,711. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Upbound Group Stock Up 4.2%

UPBD stock opened at $24.29 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 1.77. Upbound Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.69 and a twelve month high of $38.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.98.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.13 billion. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 35.47% and a net margin of 2.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upbound Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.42%. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.24%.

Upbound Group Company Profile

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.