PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Trading 6.6% Higher – Still a Buy?

PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA)’s stock price shot up 6.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $20.68 and last traded at $20.88. 76,903 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 544,192 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PRAA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded PRA Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PRA Group in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised PRA Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PRA Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

PRA Group Trading Up 1.7%

The stock has a market cap of $775.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.06 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.72.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.99. The business had revenue of $372.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.99 million. PRA Group had a positive return on equity of 15.56% and a negative net margin of 19.91%. Research analysts anticipate that PRA Group, Inc. will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of PRA Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of PRA Group by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 109,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,248,000 after purchasing an additional 4,010 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of PRA Group by 28.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,446 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 3,229 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in PRA Group by 59.1% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 217,861 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,213,000 after buying an additional 80,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 819,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,091,000 after acquiring an additional 109,857 shares during the last quarter. 97.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PRA Group Company Profile

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.