Western Standard LLC Acquires Shares of 100,000 Upbound Group, Inc. $UPBD

Western Standard LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,000. Upbound Group makes up approximately 0.8% of Western Standard LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Upbound Group by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 25,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Upbound Group by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 15,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP grew its holdings in Upbound Group by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Olympiad Research LP now owns 10,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Prelude Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Upbound Group by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 10,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. 90.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Upbound Group Trading Down 1.3%

UPBD stock opened at $18.76 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.08. Upbound Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.82 and a fifty-two week high of $28.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 3.06. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 1.83.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.02. Upbound Group had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 35.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. Upbound Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Upbound Group has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 1.000-1.100 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.000-4.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Upbound Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 7th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 7th. Upbound Group’s payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UPBD. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Upbound Group in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Upbound Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Upbound Group in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown acquired 2,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.41 per share, with a total value of $45,205.89. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 94,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,840,844.40. This represents a 2.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Upbound Group

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.