Rent-A-Center "continued to disappoint" in Q1, with a marginal sequential improvement in the company's sales trend more than offset by continued profit margin deterioration and "much worse" than expected earnings, Loop Capital analyst Anthony Chukumba tells investors in a post-earnings research note. The analyst does not believe the company's new initiatives to reduce costs and improve working capital change the fact that its core U.S. business remains in secular decline. Chukumba keeps a Hold rating on Rent-A-Center, based solely on the possibility the company may be acquired in the near future. He has a $9 price target on the shares.