Zacks Research Upgrades Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) to “Hold”

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

UPBD has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Upbound Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. BTIG Research downgraded Upbound Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Upbound Group from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Upbound Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

Upbound Group Price Performance

UPBD stock opened at $15.62 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.83 and a 200-day moving average of $18.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. Upbound Group has a 12 month low of $15.37 and a 12 month high of $23.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $910.65 million, a P/E ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 1.77.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.02. Upbound Group had a net margin of 1.90% and a return on equity of 34.53%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. Upbound Group’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Upbound Group will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Upbound Group

In other Upbound Group news, EVP Anthony Blasquez sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.85, for a total transaction of $188,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $824,065.45. This trade represents a 18.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Brown bought 2,295 shares of Upbound Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.09 per share, with a total value of $46,106.55. Following the acquisition, the director owned 96,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,942,321.29. This represents a 2.43% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upbound Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Upbound Group in the second quarter worth approximately $194,216,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Upbound Group by 15.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,394,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,227,000 after purchasing an additional 327,203 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Upbound Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,565,000. Huber Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Upbound Group by 80.2% during the 4th quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 1,739,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,538,000 after buying an additional 773,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Upbound Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $18,862,000. Institutional investors own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Upbound Group Company Profile

Upbound Group, Inc is a consumer leasing and retail services company headquartered in Plano, Texas. The company operates through two primary brands: Rent-A-Center, a lease-to-own provider, and Acima, a technology-enabled point-of-sale leasing platform. Its services are designed to give consumers access to household and consumer products through flexible leasing arrangements, including options that may not require traditional credit.

Rent-A-Center offers furniture, appliances, electronics, computers, smartphones and other durable goods through company-operated and franchised stores, as well as digital channels.