Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New $613,000 Investment in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 21,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $613,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Upbound Group in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Upbound Group by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Upbound Group by 374.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 2,590 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Upbound Group by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Upbound Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $229,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UPBD shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Upbound Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Upbound Group from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.00.

Upbound Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UPBD opened at $24.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. Upbound Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.35 and a fifty-two week high of $38.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.78. The company has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 2.01.

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

Upbound Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.29%. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Fahmi Karam bought 11,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.82 per share, for a total transaction of $296,930.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 164,672 shares in the company, valued at $4,251,831.04. This represents a 7.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey J. Brown bought 1,146 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $29.01 per share, with a total value of $33,245.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 86,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,505,883.80. This represents a 1.34 % 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 insiders.

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.