Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Upbound Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Upbound Group from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BTIG Research lowered shares of Upbound Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Upbound Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Upbound Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Upbound Group Stock Performance

Shares of Upbound Group stock opened at $15.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $927.55 million, a PE ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 1.78. Upbound Group has a 1 year low of $15.13 and a 1 year high of $23.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $18.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.85.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Upbound Group had a net margin of 1.90% and a return on equity of 34.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. 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 anticipate that Upbound Group will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Upbound Group news, Director Jeffrey Brown acquired 2,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was bought 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Anthony Blasquez sold 10,000 shares of Upbound Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.85, for a total transaction of $188,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $824,065.45. This represents a 18.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Upbound Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of Upbound Group in the third quarter valued at $4,619,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Upbound Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $524,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its stake in Upbound Group by 62.0% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 58,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 22,500 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Upbound Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Upbound Group by 299.3% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Upbound Group Company Profile

Upbound Group, Inc is a provider of branded leasing and alternative-purchase solutions for consumers. The company operates through a network of stores and digital channels, offering access to products such as furniture, appliances, consumer electronics, computers, smartphones and other household merchandise through lease-to-own and related payment arrangements.

Its principal brands include Rent-A-Center, which provides lease-to-own products through company-operated and franchised locations, and Acima, a technology-enabled point-of-sale leasing platform that connects consumers with participating retail merchants.