PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Trading Up 4.9% – Should You Buy?

PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA) was up 4.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $15.78 and last traded at $15.7810. Approximately 173,074 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 499,496 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PRAA shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PRA Group in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PRA Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PRA Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

PRA Group Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.47. The company has a market cap of $611.27 million, a P/E ratio of -2.24 and a beta of 1.14.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $314.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $295.90 million. PRA Group had a negative net margin of 22.51% and a positive return on equity of 13.19%. As a group, analysts forecast that PRA Group, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of PRA Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PRAA. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in PRA Group during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in PRA Group by 145.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in PRA Group by 146.8% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in PRA Group by 375.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 3,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P bought a new stake in PRA Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $102,000. Institutional investors own 97.22% of the company’s stock.

About PRA Group

PRA Group, Inc is a global specialty finance company focused on the acquisition and management of nonperforming loans. Founded in 1996 as Portfolio Recovery Associates, the company purchases defaulted consumer and commercial receivables at discounted rates from financial institutions, utilities and other creditors. By combining rigorous analytics with a consumer-centric ethos, PRA Group seeks to maximize recoveries while maintaining respectful and compliant interactions with debtors.

The company’s core activities include first-party and third-party collections across a range of asset classes such as credit cards, auto loans and utility receivables.