Sterling Capital Management LLC Buys 957 Shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) by 765.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,082 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in PROG were worth $46,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of PROG in the 4th quarter worth about $527,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in PROG by 141.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in PROG by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 377,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,951,000 after purchasing an additional 34,020 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of PROG by 170.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 248,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,521,000 after purchasing an additional 157,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PROG in the fourth quarter valued at $833,000. 97.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRG has been the topic of several research reports. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of PROG from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of PROG in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on PROG from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.83.

PROG Price Performance

PRG opened at $24.94 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 5.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 1.96. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.50 and a 52 week high of $50.28.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.08. PROG had a return on equity of 24.25% and a net margin of 8.01%. The business had revenue of $684.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $678.23 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

PROG Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a positive change from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. PROG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.45%.

Insider Activity at PROG

In other PROG news, Director Caroline Sio-Chin Sheu purchased 1,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.01 per share, for a total transaction of $46,216.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $512,330.91. The trade was a 9.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas C. Curling acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.88 per share, for a total transaction of $298,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 45,913 shares in the company, valued at $1,371,880.44. This represents a 27.85 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.21% of the company’s stock.

PROG 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.