Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on UPBD. BTIG Research cut Upbound Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Upbound Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Upbound Group from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Upbound Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.67.

Upbound Group Price Performance

Shares of Upbound Group stock opened at $20.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.41. Upbound Group has a 52 week low of $15.82 and a 52 week high of $28.02.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.02. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 34.53% and a net margin of 1.90%.The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Upbound Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.000-4.350 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.850-0.950 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Upbound Group will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upbound Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Upbound Group’s payout ratio is 101.30%.

Insider Activity at Upbound Group

In other news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown bought 2,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.09 per share, for a total transaction of $46,106.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 96,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,942,321.29. This represents a 2.43% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upbound Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Upbound Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $779,000. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Upbound Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $472,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 18.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Upbound Group in the second quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Upbound Group in the first quarter worth $7,455,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

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. It offers furniture comprising mattresses, tires, consumer electronics, appliances, tools, handbags, computers, smartphones, and accessories.