Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on UPBD. Loop Capital raised shares of Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, September 15th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Upbound Group in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Upbound Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Upbound Group Price Performance

UPBD stock opened at $20.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 3.11. Upbound Group has a 52 week low of $19.65 and a 52 week high of $36.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.10 and its 200 day moving average is $23.85. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.77.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.07. Upbound Group had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 36.26%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Upbound Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.050-4.40 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.950-1.05 EPS. Research analysts predict that Upbound Group will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Upbound Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.64%.

Insider Activity at Upbound Group

In other news, EVP Ralph T. Montrone sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.23, for a total value of $151,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 49,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,239,373.29. This trade represents a 10.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upbound Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UPBD. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 25,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 59.9% in the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 24,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 90.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.