On Monday, Zacks Investment Research upgraded their rating of Rent-A-Center Inc. (NASDAQ:$RCII) from a ‘Hold’ to a ‘Buy’. The firm also set a price target of $13.00 for the rental agreement company’s stock. This company has a potential 13.24% upside according to this target price.

Zacks had this to say, “Shares of Rent-A-Center have outpaced the industry in the past six months. The company is concentrating on a new labor model, supply chain initiative, and productivity enhancements. These endeavors are directed toward improving the performance of Core U.S. segment, optimizing the AcceptanceNOW business and enhancing distribution channels as well as integrating retail and online offerings. The company is also rationalizing its store base and lowering its debt load. We believe that these efforts will help improve top and bottom line performance. In the second quarter of 2017, this rent-to-own operator posted a loss of 1 cent a share that missed the consensus mark and also fell substantially from the year-ago period. Total revenue also slid year over year but managed to beat the respective estimate, after missing the same in the trailing seven quarters. Comps also fell but improved sequentially. Notably, estimates have also improved lately.”

Multiple other firms have also recently weighed in;

• BidaskClub: In a report on July 16th, BidaskClub increased their rating from ‘Hold’ to ‘Buy’.
• Loop Capital: In a report on July 18th, Loop Capital reissued a ‘Sell’ rating and set their target price at $8.00.
• Stifel Nicolaus: In a report on July 28th, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a ‘Hold’ rating and increased their price target from $11.50 to $13.00.
• Jefferies Group LLC: In a report on September 7th, Jefferies Group reissued a ‘Hold’ rating and set a price target of $12.00.

In total, the stock has received 4 ‘Buy’ ratings, 4 ‘Hold’, 1 ‘Strong-Buy’, and 1 ‘Sell’, giving them a consensus of ‘Hold’. The current aggregate target price is $11.71.

On Monday, the stock traded up 1.13% and hit a total of $11.61 with a trading volume of 278,926 shares. Their current market cap is $618.82 million. They have a 52 week low of $7.76 and a 52 week high of $13.89. The firm’s 50 and 200 day moving averages are $12.67 and $11.46.

On Wednesday, July 26th, Rent-A-Center released its latest earning results. The company missed the consensus estimates of $0.07 with a reported EPS of -$0.01. The company earned an EPS of $0.41 during the same quarter of the previous year. Analysts forecast an annualized $0.07 EPS during the current fiscal year.

Multiple institutions recently changed their stakes in the company;

• United Capital Financial Advisors LLC bought an additional 64,923 shares during the last quarter, increasing their holdings by 21.1%. They currently hold 372,081 shares valued at $3,300,000.
• Morgan Stanley (NYSE:$MS) bought an additional 377,761 shares during the last quarter and now owns 411,725 shares valued at $6,165,000. This represents an increase of 1,112.2% in the fourth quarter.
• TFS Capital LLC bought a stake in the company during the fourth quarter with an initial purchase of about $5,710,000.
• Federated Investors Inc. PA bought an additional 36,379 shares during the last quarter and now owns 149,442 shares worth $1,681,00. This represents an increase of 32.2% in the fourth quarter.
• Principal Financial Group Inc. bought an additional 21,548 shares in the last quarter and now own 385,152 shares worth $4,730,000. This represents an increase of 5.9% in the 2nd quarter.

Featured Image: Depositphotos/© saknakorn