Corton Capital Inc. Buys Shares of 10,057 Upbound Group, Inc. $UPBD

Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 10,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Upbound Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,023,000. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 78.3% during the first quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 724,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,353,000 after purchasing an additional 318,060 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,025,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,339,000 after purchasing an additional 244,746 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Upbound Group by 73.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 532,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,766,000 after purchasing an additional 224,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Upbound Group by 71.5% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 298,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,140,000 after purchasing an additional 124,229 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Upbound Group

In other Upbound Group news, EVP Ralph T. Montrone sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.23, for a total value of $151,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 49,123 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,239,373.29. This trade represents a 10.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey J. Brown purchased 1,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $22.27 per share, with a total value of $43,448.77. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 90,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,025,790.55. This represents a 2.19% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Upbound Group Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of Upbound Group stock opened at $20.01 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.72 and its 200 day moving average is $23.87. Upbound Group, Inc. has a one year low of $18.61 and a one year high of $36.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 36.26% and a net margin of 2.28%.The company’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Upbound Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.050-4.150 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.28 EPS for the current year.

Upbound Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.8%. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 107.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UPBD has been the topic of several recent research reports. BTIG Research cut their target price on Upbound Group from $40.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Upbound Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Upbound Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Upbound Group from $36.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Upbound Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.60.

About Upbound Group

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.