PROG (NYSE:PRG) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of PROG (NYSE:PRG) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PRG. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on PROG from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of PROG from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on PROG from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of PROG from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised PROG from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PROG presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.44.

PROG Trading Down 2.4%

PRG opened at $38.17 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.73. PROG has a 1-year low of $25.80 and a 1-year high of $47.73. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a current ratio of 4.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The fintech holding company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.24. PROG had a return on equity of 21.88% and a net margin of 5.57%.The firm had revenue of $719.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $713.50 million. PROG has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.000-1.200 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.750-5.000 EPS. Analysts predict that PROG will post 4.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PROG Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. PROG’s payout ratio is currently 15.47%.

Insider Transactions at PROG

In related news, insider Michael Todd King sold 1,070 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $49,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 60,825 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,950. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO George M. Sewell sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.53, for a total value of $91,060.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 28,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,369.05. This trade represents a 6.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 4,000 shares of company stock worth $183,060 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in PROG by 4,444.7% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,254,199 shares of the fintech holding company’s stock worth $105,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,204,598 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of PROG by 436.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,824,091 shares of the fintech holding company’s stock valued at $53,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,483,751 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in PROG by 588.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 840,029 shares of the fintech holding company’s stock worth $24,100,000 after buying an additional 717,932 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of PROG in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,229,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PROG during the second quarter valued at approximately $22,288,000. 97.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PROG Company Profile

PROG Holdings, Inc, 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.