Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Upbound Group in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $31.33.

Upbound Group Stock Performance

Shares of Upbound Group stock opened at $17.70 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Upbound Group has a twelve month low of $15.82 and a twelve month high of $28.02. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 1.83. The company’s fifty day moving average is $18.36 and its 200 day moving average is $18.76.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.02. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 35.56% and a net margin of 1.78%.The business had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. Upbound Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Upbound Group will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upbound Group news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown purchased 2,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.41 per share, with a total value of $45,205.89. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 94,840 shares in the company, valued at $1,840,844.40. This represents a 2.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Upbound Group by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,132,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,246,000 after purchasing an additional 231,293 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Upbound Group by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,532,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,854,000 after purchasing an additional 491,536 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,410,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,220,000 after buying an additional 246,146 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,394,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,227,000 after buying an additional 327,203 shares during the period. Finally, Huber Capital Management LLC increased its position in Upbound Group by 80.2% in the 4th quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 1,739,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,538,000 after buying an additional 773,775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

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.