Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at TD Cowen

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) was upgraded by equities researchers at TD Cowen to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Upbound Group from $36.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens started coverage on shares of Upbound Group in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Upbound Group from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Upbound Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.17.

Upbound Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of UPBD opened at $34.39 on Friday. Upbound Group has a 12 month low of $26.50 and a 12 month high of $38.72. The stock has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $30.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.06. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 34.15% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Upbound Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Upbound Group will post 3.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown purchased 1,065 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.25 per share, with a total value of $31,151.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 85,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,493,094.50. This trade represents a 1.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of UPBD. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Upbound Group by 112.7% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,827,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,557,906 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Upbound Group by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,028,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,883,000 after purchasing an additional 43,814 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Upbound Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,217,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,968,000 after purchasing an additional 54,427 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Upbound Group by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 914,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,240,000 after purchasing an additional 33,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Upbound Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 761,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,386,000 after purchasing an additional 15,219 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

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.