Aaron’s (NYSE:PRG) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Aaron’s (NYSE:PRG) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on PRG. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Aaron’s in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aaron’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Aaron’s from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.80.

Aaron’s Stock Performance

NYSE:PRG opened at $32.30 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.50 and its 200 day moving average is $30.89. Aaron’s has a fifty-two week low of $24.51 and a fifty-two week high of $41.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 4.71.

Aaron’s (NYSE:PRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.14. Aaron’s had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 5.97%.The company had revenue of $525.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $581.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Aaron’s’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Aaron’s has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.700-0.900 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.000-4.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aaron’s will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Aaron’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 12th. This is a positive change from Aaron’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Aaron’s’s payout ratio is 15.56%.

Institutional Trading of Aaron’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP increased its stake in Aaron’s by 82.8% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec purchased a new stake in Aaron’s in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Aaron’s by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. WealthCollab LLC increased its stake in Aaron’s by 61.9% in the second quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 2,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Aaron’s by 85.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 2,417 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

Aaron’s Company Profile

PROG Holdings, Inc (NYSE: PRG), formerly known as Aaron’s, is a North American provider of lease-to-own and consumer finance solutions. The company operates through two primary segments: Aaron’s Business Solutions and Progressive Financial Services. Through Aaron’s Business Solutions, PROG offers customers access to furniture, electronics, home appliances and technology products via lease ownership arrangements, serving both individual consumers and small businesses.

The Progressive Financial Services segment provides lease-purchase and retail point-of-sale financing programs to customers with limited credit histories.