PROG (NYSE:PRG) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of PROG (NYSE:PRG) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on PRG. Weiss Ratings raised PROG from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of PROG from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Loop Capital cut shares of PROG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of PROG from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of PROG from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $33.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PROG presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.44.

PROG Price Performance

NYSE PRG opened at $39.19 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 4.03 and a quick ratio of 2.29. PROG has a 1-year low of $25.80 and a 1-year high of $47.73.

PROG (NYSE:PRG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The fintech holding company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $719.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $713.50 million. PROG had a return on equity of 21.88% and a net margin of 5.57%.PROG has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.000-1.200 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.750-5.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that PROG will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current year.

PROG Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. PROG’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael Todd King sold 1,070 shares of PROG stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $49,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 60,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,797,950. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO George M. Sewell sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.53, for a total transaction of $91,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 28,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,369.05. This represents a 6.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,000 shares of company stock worth $183,060. 3.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PROG

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRG. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in PROG by 4,444.7% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,254,199 shares of the fintech holding company’s stock worth $105,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204,598 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in PROG by 436.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,824,091 shares of the fintech holding company’s stock valued at $53,792,000 after buying an additional 1,483,751 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of PROG by 588.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 840,029 shares of the fintech holding company’s stock valued at $24,100,000 after buying an additional 717,932 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of PROG during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,229,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PROG in the second quarter worth $22,288,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.92% of the company’s stock.

About PROG

PROG Holdings, Inc, formerly known as Aaron’s, is a North American provider of lease-to-own and consumer finance solutions. The company operates through two primary segments: Aaron’s Business Solutions and Progressive Financial Services. Through Aaron’s Business Solutions, PROG offers customers access to furniture, electronics, home appliances and technology products via lease ownership arrangements, serving both individual consumers and small businesses.

The Progressive Financial Services segment provides lease-purchase and retail point-of-sale financing programs to customers with limited credit histories.