Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Boosts Stake in Upbound Group, Inc. $UPBD

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) by 15.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 282,320 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,911 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.49% of Upbound Group worth $6,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in Upbound Group by 517.8% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,535,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,831,000 after buying an additional 3,801,043 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,041,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,240,000 after acquiring an additional 352,264 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Upbound Group by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,341,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,672,000 after purchasing an additional 27,185 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Upbound Group by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 791,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,870,000 after purchasing an additional 10,610 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in Upbound Group by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 783,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,678,000 after purchasing an additional 168,113 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Upbound Group Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Upbound Group stock opened at $19.29 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.46. Upbound Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.82 and a 12-month high of $30.62. The company has a current ratio of 3.16, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.30 and a beta of 1.85.

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

Upbound Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.1%. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio is 107.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upbound Group

In other news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown purchased 2,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.68 per share, for a total transaction of $44,235.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 92,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,643,744.96. This represents a 2.77% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on UPBD shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Upbound Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Upbound Group in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on Upbound Group from $40.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Upbound Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Upbound Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Upbound Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.25.

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. It offers furniture comprising mattresses, tires, consumer electronics, appliances, tools, handbags, computers, smartphones, and accessories.