Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Stake in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 14,671 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $620,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PRG. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in PROG by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 779,716 shares of the company's stock worth $32,951,000 after purchasing an additional 209,805 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of PROG by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,776,377 shares of the company's stock worth $86,137,000 after buying an additional 114,498 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of PROG by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 347,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,834,000 after acquiring an additional 64,197 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of PROG by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 377,448 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,951,000 after acquiring an additional 34,020 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of PROG during the 4th quarter valued at $1,235,000. 97.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at PROG

In other PROG news, Director Caroline Sio-Chin Sheu bought 1,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.01 per share, for a total transaction of $46,216.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 18,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $512,330.91. This 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 this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas C. Curling purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.88 per share, with a total value of $298,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,371,880.44. The trade was a 27.85 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.74% of the company's stock.

PROG Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PRG traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $25.36. 298,406 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 446,001. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.50 and a 12 month high of $50.28. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 5.24 and a quick ratio of 2.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.03.

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

PROG Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. This is an increase from PROG's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. PROG's payout ratio is currently 10.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on PRG. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of PROG in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered PROG from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PROG has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.