Legal & General Group Plc Acquires New Holdings in Upbound Group, Inc. $UPBD

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 118,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,504,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Upbound Group by 1.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 25,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Upbound Group by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Upbound Group by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 3,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Upbound Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 46,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $814,000 after buying an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Upbound Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 72,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Upbound Group Price Performance

UPBD stock opened at $18.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. Upbound Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.82 and a 52-week high of $28.02. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.33.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Equities research analysts expect that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on UPBD. Weiss Ratings raised Upbound Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Zacks Research cut Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Upbound Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. BTIG Research cut 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, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Upbound Group from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jeffrey Brown acquired 2,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.09 per share, with a total value of $46,106.55. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 96,681 shares in the company, valued at $1,942,321.29. The trade was a 2.43% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Anthony Blasquez sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 43,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $824,065.45. The trade was a 18.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Upbound Group 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.