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

Shares of PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA) were up 4.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $15.78 and last traded at $15.7810. Approximately 173,074 shares were traded during 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 analysts have commented on PRAA shares. 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PRA Group in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

PRA Group Trading Up 6.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $611.27 million, a PE ratio of -2.24 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.47.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $314.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that PRA Group, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PRA Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Topline Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PRA Group by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Topline Capital Management LLC now owns 2,615,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,387,000 after acquiring an additional 365,082 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in PRA Group by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,499,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,895 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,296,830 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,941,000 after buying an additional 156,520 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 819,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,091,000 after buying an additional 109,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 752,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,304,000 after buying an additional 95,179 shares during the last quarter. 97.22% of the stock is 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.