PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Rating Lowered to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded PRA Group from “strong buy” to “buy,” while broader analyst coverage remains mixed; MarketBeat reports a consensus “hold” rating and a $26 target price.
• PRA Group reported quarterly EPS of $1.51, beating the $0.52 consensus estimate, and revenue of $372.17 million versus expectations of $299.99 million.
• The stock opened at $19.02, up 0.2%, with a market capitalization of approximately $716.1 million; institutional investors own 97.22% of outstanding shares.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on PRAA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of PRA Group in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of PRA Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.00.

PRA Group Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ PRAA opened at $19.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $716.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.83 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $18.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.45. PRA Group has a twelve month low of $10.25 and a twelve month high of $22.55.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.99. The firm had revenue of $372.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 expect that PRA Group will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in PRA Group by 2,084.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 793,459 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,068,000 after purchasing an additional 757,141 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in PRA Group during the second quarter valued at $263,000. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in PRA Group by 34.0% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 16,490 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 4,185 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its stake in shares of PRA Group by 288.0% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 200,848 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,814,000 after buying an additional 149,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of PRA Group by 91.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 123,822 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,275,000 after buying an additional 59,071 shares in the last quarter. 97.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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