Brokerages predict that Rent-A-Center, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCII – Get Rating) will announce $1.06 billion in sales for the current quarter, Zacks reports. Four analysts have made estimates for Rent-A-Center’s earnings, with the lowest sales estimate coming in at $1.06 billion and the highest estimate coming in at $1.07 billion. Rent-A-Center posted sales of $1.19 billion in the same quarter last year, which would indicate a negative year-over-year growth rate of 10.9%. The firm is scheduled to announce its next earnings results on Monday, January 1st.

On average, analysts expect that Rent-A-Center will report full-year sales of $4.51 billion for the current fiscal year, with estimates ranging from $4.47 billion to $4.59 billion. For the next year, analysts anticipate that the firm will post sales of $4.75 billion, with estimates ranging from $4.58 billion to $4.97 billion. Zacks’ sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side analysts that follow Rent-A-Center.

Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ:RCII – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Rent-A-Center had a net margin of 1.87% and a return on equity of 48.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Rent-A-Center in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of Rent-A-Center from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, February 25th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Rent-A-Center from $68.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 25th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Rent-A-Center from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $49.25.

In other news, CEO Mitchell E. Fadel bought 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,083,200.00. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Rent-A-Center during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Rent-A-Center by 672.8% during the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 3,095 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC purchased a new stake in Rent-A-Center during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Gladius Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Rent-A-Center by 47.7% in the first quarter. Gladius Capital Management LP now owns 4,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rent-A-Center by 11.2% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 4,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of NASDAQ:RCII opened at $26.30 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $25.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.35. Rent-A-Center has a twelve month low of $22.70 and a twelve month high of $67.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55 and a beta of 1.55.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 5th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 4th. Rent-A-Center’s payout ratio is 106.25%.

Rent-A-Center Company Profile (Get Rating)

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.

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