Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) Raised to Hold at Zacks Research

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

UPBD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Upbound Group in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Upbound Group in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Upbound Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.25.

Upbound Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UPBD opened at $19.78 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 2.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95 and a beta of 1.85. Upbound Group has a 52-week low of $15.82 and a 52-week high of $28.02.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Upbound Group had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 35.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. Upbound Group has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.050-1.150 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.000-4.350 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Upbound Group will post 4.13 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upbound Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UPBD. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 15.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 48,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,157,000 after buying an additional 6,623 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 1,376 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 73.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 532,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,766,000 after buying an additional 224,811 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Upbound Group by 286.3% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 86,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,071,000 after buying an additional 64,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Upbound Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $440,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

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.