Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 88,832 Shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) by 76.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 205,050 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 88,832 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in PROG were worth $8,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in PROG by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,937,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,646,000 after purchasing an additional 76,810 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of PROG by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 19,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of PROG by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 6,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of PROG in the fourth quarter valued at about $380,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in PROG by 72.5% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 159,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,751,000 after acquiring an additional 67,118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Caroline Sio-Chin Sheu bought 1,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.01 per share, for a total transaction of $46,216.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $512,330.91. This trade represents a 9.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas C. Curling purchased 10,000 shares of PROG stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.88 per share, with a total value of $298,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 45,913 shares in the company, valued at $1,371,880.44. This trade represents a 27.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.74% of the company’s stock.

PROG Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PRG opened at $26.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.24, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 2.14. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.93 and a 12 month high of $50.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.35 and a 200-day moving average of $41.81.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $623.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $612.67 million. PROG had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

PROG Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. This is a positive change from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. PROG’s dividend payout ratio is 10.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on PRG. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of PROG in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PROG has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

PROG Company Profile

PROG Holdings, Inc (NYSE:PRG) is a financial technology holding company based in Salt Lake City, Utah with three business segments: Progressive Leasing, which offers lease-to-own transactions primarily to credit-challenged consumers through e-commerce and point-of-sale retail partners, via online, mobile, and in-store solutions; Vive Financial, which provides consumers who may not qualify for traditional prime lending with a variety of second-look, revolving credit products through private label and branded credit cards; and Four Technologies, which provides consumers of all credit backgrounds Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options through four interest-free installments via its platform, Four.