Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) Hits New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $28.00 to $27.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Upbound Group traded as low as $15.10 and last traded at $15.13, with a volume of 159444 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.36.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research upgraded Upbound Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Upbound Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Upbound Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Upbound Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Anthony Blasquez sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.85, for a total transaction of $188,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,717 shares in the company, valued at $824,065.45. This trade represents a 18.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upbound Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Upbound Group in the second quarter worth about $194,216,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in Upbound Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,565,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Upbound Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $18,862,000. Huber Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Upbound Group by 80.2% in the 4th quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 1,739,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,538,000 after buying an additional 773,775 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Upbound Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,455,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Upbound Group Trading Down 1.9%

The stock has a market capitalization of $878.27 million, a P/E ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 1.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 3.22.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.02. Upbound Group had a return on equity of 34.53% and a net margin of 1.90%.The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Upbound Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. Upbound Group’s payout ratio is presently 101.30%.

Upbound Group Company Profile

Upbound Group, Inc is a provider of branded leasing and alternative-purchase solutions for consumers. The company operates through a network of stores and digital channels, offering access to products such as furniture, appliances, consumer electronics, computers, smartphones and other household merchandise through lease-to-own and related payment arrangements.

Its principal brands include Rent-A-Center, which provides lease-to-own products through company-operated and franchised locations, and Acima, a technology-enabled point-of-sale leasing platform that connects consumers with participating retail merchants.