Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) Increases Dividend to $0.39 Per Share

Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.39 per share on Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 18th. This is a positive change from Upbound Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37.

Upbound Group has decreased its dividend by an average of 1.9% per year over the last three years. Upbound Group has a dividend payout ratio of 33.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Upbound Group to earn $4.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.3%.

Upbound Group Stock Up 0.1 %

UPBD stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.88. 299,785 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 446,579. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.67. Upbound Group has a 1-year low of $26.50 and a 1-year high of $38.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 3.66. The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37 and a beta of 2.03.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Upbound Group had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 34.15%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Upbound Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Upbound Group will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Upbound Group news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown purchased 1,065 shares of Upbound Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $29.25 per share, with a total value of $31,151.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 85,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,493,094.50. This represents a 1.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UPBD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Upbound Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Upbound Group from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Upbound Group in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised Upbound Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upbound Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.17.

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.