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

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

UPBD has been the topic of several other research reports. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Upbound Group in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Upbound Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Upbound Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $37.25.

Upbound Group Trading Down 4.0%

UPBD stock opened at $20.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 1.77. Upbound Group has a 12 month low of $19.65 and a 12 month high of $36.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $24.11 and its 200 day moving average is $23.87. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Upbound Group had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 36.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. Upbound Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.050-4.40 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.950-1.05 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Upbound Group will post 4.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ralph T. Montrone sold 6,000 shares of Upbound Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 49,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,239,373.29. The trade was a 10.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Beacon Financial Group purchased a new position in shares of Upbound Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,793,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Upbound Group by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in shares of Upbound Group by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 231,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,808,000 after buying an additional 17,621 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Upbound Group by 175.3% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 14,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 8,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Upbound Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,463,000. 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.