Azora Capital LP Purchases Shares of 755,429 Upbound Group, Inc. $UPBD

Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 755,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,961,000. Azora Capital LP owned approximately 1.30% of Upbound Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 783,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,678,000 after acquiring an additional 168,113 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in Upbound Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Upbound Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 684,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,193,000 after purchasing an additional 30,398 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Upbound Group by 36.0% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 107,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,700,000 after purchasing an additional 28,476 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 5.3% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 313,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,878,000 after purchasing an additional 15,851 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Upbound Group Trading Up 0.3%

UPBD stock opened at $18.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.94. Upbound Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.82 and a fifty-two week high of $34.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 3.16.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.02. Upbound Group had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Upbound Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.050-4.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upbound Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.6%. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 107.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of Upbound Group from $40.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research cut Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Upbound Group from $36.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen cut Upbound Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Loop Capital raised Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

Insider Activity

In other Upbound Group news, EVP Ralph T. Montrone sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.23, for a total transaction of $151,380.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 49,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,239,373.29. The trade was a 10.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey J. Brown acquired 1,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.27 per share, for a total transaction of $43,448.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 90,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,025,790.55. This trade represents a 2.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Upbound Group 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.