Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Decreases Position in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lessened its stake in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) by 96.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,644 shares of the company’s stock after selling 111,314 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Upbound Group were worth $135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,028,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,883,000 after purchasing an additional 43,814 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Upbound Group by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,217,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,968,000 after buying an additional 54,427 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Upbound Group by 3.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 914,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,240,000 after purchasing an additional 33,167 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Upbound Group by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 797,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,262,000 after purchasing an additional 54,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Upbound Group by 2,864.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 405,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,974,000 after acquiring an additional 391,888 shares during the last quarter. 90.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Upbound Group Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UPBD opened at $24.56 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The company has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 2.01. Upbound Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.35 and a fifty-two week high of $38.72.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.02. Upbound Group had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 35.47%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on UPBD. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Upbound Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Upbound Group from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upbound Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upbound Group

In other news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown bought 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $29.01 per share, with a total value of $33,245.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 86,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,505,883.80. The trade was a 1.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Fahmi Karam bought 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.82 per share, for a total transaction of $296,930.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 164,672 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,251,831.04. This trade represents a 7.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Upbound Group 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.