Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Decreases Stake in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lowered its position in PROG Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PRG) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 679,779 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,185 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in PROG were worth $28,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in PROG in the fourth quarter worth approximately $527,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in PROG by 141.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in PROG by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 377,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,951,000 after acquiring an additional 34,020 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PROG by 170.7% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 248,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,521,000 after acquiring an additional 157,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PROG during the 4th quarter worth approximately $833,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

PROG Stock Performance

Shares of PROG stock opened at $27.89 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 1.81. PROG Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.50 and a 12 month high of $50.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 5.24 and a quick ratio of 2.34.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $684.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $678.23 million. PROG had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 24.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PROG Holdings, Inc. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

PROG Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. PROG’s payout ratio is 10.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PRG shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of PROG from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of PROG from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PROG has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Caroline Sio-Chin Sheu acquired 1,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $28.01 per share, with a total value of $46,216.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $512,330.91. This represents a 9.92% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Douglas C. Curling acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.88 per share, for a total transaction of $298,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 45,913 shares in the company, valued at $1,371,880.44. This trade represents a 27.85% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.21% of the company’s stock.

PROG 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.