Jeffrey Brown, a director at Upbound Group (UPBD), recently bought 1,146 shares. The buy increased his stake by 1%, and came to a total cost of $33,245.
Brown was the last buyer of shares with a 1,065 share pickup back in October, at a cost of just over $31,000. Three company EVPs were sellers of shares over the past year. Going further back, there was a similar mix of insider buys and sales.
Overall, Upbound Group insiders own 11.4% of shares.
The parent company of lease-to-own brand Rent-A-Center is down about 10% over the past year. That’s at odds with the company’s operations, which saw revenues rise by about 10%, and earnings jumped higher by nearly 610%.
Typically, the lease-to-own space fares well during an expanding economy, but could face trouble during a contracting economy.
Meanwhile, Upbound shares trade at about 7 times forward earnings, and the stock trades at the low end of its 52-week range.
Action to take: Investors may like shares here, as strong earnings and valuation point to a potential move higher. Plus, at current prices, Upbound pays a 5.4% dividend.
For traders, the June $30 calls, last trading for about $2.45, look attractive. With shares looking ready to trend higher again, the at-the-money trade could see mid-to-high double-digit returns.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any company mentioned in this article.