Sepio Capital LP Buys New Position in Upbound Group, Inc. $UPBD

Sepio Capital LP bought a new stake in Upbound Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPBD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 148,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,604,000. Sepio Capital LP owned approximately 0.26% of Upbound Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Upbound Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Upbound Group by 913.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Upbound Group by 238.3% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Upbound Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $95,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Upbound Group by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,574 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Upbound Group

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on UPBD. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Upbound Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Upbound Group in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Upbound Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $31.33.

Upbound Group Stock Performance

Shares of UPBD opened at $18.59 on Friday. Upbound Group, Inc. has a one year low of $15.82 and a one year high of $28.02. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.85. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.02. Upbound Group had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 35.56%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Upbound Group, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Upbound Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. Upbound Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.09%.

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.