Kennedy Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Upbound Group, Inc. $UPBD

Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 672,289 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,988 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Upbound Group were worth $11,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UPBD. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 48,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,157,000 after acquiring an additional 6,623 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 73.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 532,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,766,000 after acquiring an additional 224,811 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 286.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 86,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,071,000 after acquiring an additional 64,073 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Upbound Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $440,000. 90.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upbound Group

In other Upbound Group news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown acquired 2,329 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.41 per share, with a total value of $45,205.89. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 94,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,840,844.40. This trade represents a 2.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Upbound Group Price Performance

Upbound Group stock opened at $18.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 1.81. Upbound Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.82 and a 1-year high of $28.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.86.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 35.56% and a net margin of 1.78%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. Upbound Group has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.000-1.100 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.000-4.350 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upbound Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.2%. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on UPBD shares. Zacks Research upgraded Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Upbound Group in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.33.

Upbound Group Company 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.