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

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

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

Upbound Group Trading Up 0.2%

UPBD stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $19.82. The stock had a trading volume of 128,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 803,534. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.96 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. Upbound Group has a 1-year low of $15.82 and a 1-year high of $28.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.23.

Upbound Group (NASDAQ:UPBD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Upbound Group had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 35.23%. Upbound Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Upbound Group will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upbound Group

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

Upbound Group Company Profile

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.