PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Trading Up 6.7% – Here’s Why

Shares of PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA) shot up 6.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $16.34 and last traded at $16.9150. Approximately 37,446 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 571,765 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PRAA. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PRA Group in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of PRA Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PRA Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

PRA Group Stock Up 10.1%

The company has a market cap of $666.00 million, a P/E ratio of -2.43 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $17.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.42.

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

Institutional Trading of PRA Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of PRA Group by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in PRA Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 94,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,679,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in PRA Group by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,051 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in PRA Group by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. 97.22% of the stock is currently owned by 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.