Aaron’s (NYSE:PRG) Stock Price Down 5.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Aaron’s Holdings Company, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)’s share price traded down 5.7% on Thursday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $38.00 to $37.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Aaron’s traded as low as $30.60 and last traded at $30.72. 52,970 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 472,857 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.58.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PRG. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aaron’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Aaron’s from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Aaron’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aaron’s

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aaron’s by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,005,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,148,000 after buying an additional 68,369 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in Aaron’s by 10.1% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 998,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,311,000 after acquiring an additional 91,574 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Aaron’s by 12.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 747,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,946,000 after acquiring an additional 80,434 shares in the last quarter. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Aaron’s by 140.7% during the first quarter. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC now owns 703,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,722,000 after acquiring an additional 411,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vulcan Value Partners LLC boosted its stake in Aaron’s by 84.3% during the first quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 681,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,134,000 after acquiring an additional 311,917 shares in the last quarter. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aaron’s Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.91 and a beta of 1.79. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.56 and its 200-day moving average is $30.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.82, a current ratio of 4.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Aaron’s (NYSE:PRG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $595.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $586.11 million. Aaron’s had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 22.36%. Aaron’s’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. Aaron’s has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.350-3.450 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 0.550-0.650 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Aaron’s Holdings Company, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Aaron’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Aaron’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.28%.

Aaron’s Company 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.