Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ:RCII) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ:RCII – Get Rating) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Separately, Stephens lowered Rent-A-Center from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Rent-A-Center Stock Down 1.3 %

RCII opened at $28.44 on Tuesday. Rent-A-Center has a one year low of $18.88 and a one year high of $67.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 3.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $22.97 and its 200-day moving average is $27.75. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 40.06 and a beta of 1.67.

Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ:RCII – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 3rd. The company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.13. Rent-A-Center had a return on equity of 45.58% and a net margin of 1.02%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Rent-A-Center will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rent-A-Center Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 21st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 17th. Rent-A-Center’s payout ratio is 191.55%.

Insider Activity at Rent-A-Center

In other Rent-A-Center news, Director Jeffrey J. Brown purchased 1,223 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.69 per share, with a total value of $25,303.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 75,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,565,591.61. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Rent-A-Center by 8.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,333,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,777,000 after purchasing an additional 189,510 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in Rent-A-Center by 1.9% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 2,056,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,995,000 after purchasing an additional 39,330 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rent-A-Center by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,976,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,962,000 after acquiring an additional 59,905 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Rent-A-Center by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,216,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,443,000 after acquiring an additional 11,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Rent-A-Center by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 898,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,637,000 after acquiring an additional 14,110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

About Rent-A-Center

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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.