Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 2,015 Shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 201,644 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,015 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.49% of PROG worth $8,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in PROG in the third quarter worth $1,046,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PROG in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,084,000. Atom Investors LP purchased a new position in shares of PROG in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,979,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of PROG by 1.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,430,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,846,000 after buying an additional 30,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PROG during the third quarter worth $1,972,000. 97.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PRG has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of PROG in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. TD Cowen raised PROG to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

PROG Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:PRG opened at $28.38 on Friday. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.61 and a 12-month high of $50.28. The firm has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 2.18. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.40.

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

PROG Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is an increase from PROG’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. PROG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Caroline Sio-Chin Sheu purchased 1,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.01 per share, for a total transaction of $46,216.50. Following the acquisition, the director now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Douglas C. Curling bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.88 per share, for a total transaction of $298,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 45,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,371,880.44. This trade represents a 27.85 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.74% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.