Rent-A-Center, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCII – Get Rating)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $30.00. The stock traded as low as $18.25 and last traded at $18.47, with a volume of 25172 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.33.
Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on RCII. Stephens cut shares of Rent-A-Center from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 29th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Rent-A-Center from $41.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rent-A-Center from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 1st.
Insider Activity at Rent-A-Center
In related news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown acquired 1,223 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.69 per share, for a total transaction of $25,303.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,669 shares in the company, valued at $1,565,591.61. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 11.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCII. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in Rent-A-Center in the fourth quarter worth approximately $222,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Rent-A-Center by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 524,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,179,000 after purchasing an additional 8,867 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Rent-A-Center by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 334,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,056,000 after purchasing an additional 27,309 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Rent-A-Center by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,847,000 after purchasing an additional 21,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Rent-A-Center by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,143,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,682,000 after purchasing an additional 110,073 shares in the last quarter. 83.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Rent-A-Center Trading Down 17.4 %
The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.01 and a beta of 1.61.
Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ:RCII – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 3rd. The company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. Rent-A-Center had a net margin of 1.02% and a return on equity of 46.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Rent-A-Center, Inc. will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Rent-A-Center Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 4th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.38%. Rent-A-Center’s payout ratio is currently 191.55%.
Rent-A-Center Company Profile
Rent-A-Center, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, leases household durable goods to customers on a lease-to-own basis. The company operates in four segments: Rent-A-Center Business, Acima, Mexico, and Franchising. It offers furniture and accessories, appliances, consumer electronics, computers, tablets and smartphones, tools, tires, handbags, and other accessories under rental purchase agreements.