PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded PRA Group from “strong buy” to “buy,” while the broader analyst consensus is “hold” with a $26 price target.
• PRA Group shares were trading at $19.08, down 4.4%, with a market capitalization of approximately $718 million.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.51 in EPS versus a $0.52 estimate and revenue of $372.17 million versus a $299.99 million consensus forecast; institutional investors own 97.22% of its stock.

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

PRAA has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of PRA Group from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered PRA Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PRA Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.00.

PRA Group Trading Down 4.4%

Shares of PRA Group stock opened at $19.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $718.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.84 and a beta of 1.13. PRA Group has a twelve month low of $10.25 and a twelve month high of $22.55. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $19.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.41.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.99. The company had revenue of $372.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.99 million. PRA Group had a negative net margin of 19.91% and a positive return on equity of 15.56%. Sell-side analysts predict that PRA Group will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PRA Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in PRA Group in the 2nd quarter worth $84,183,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in PRA Group by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 827,720 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,718,000 after purchasing an additional 77,188 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in PRA Group by 401.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 601,444 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,421,000 after purchasing an additional 481,538 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP raised its stake in PRA Group by 288.0% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 200,848 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,814,000 after purchasing an additional 149,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in PRA Group by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 189,572 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.22% of the company's stock.

About PRA Group

PRA Group, Inc is a global financial services company that purchases and manages portfolios of defaulted consumer accounts. The company works with individuals to help resolve outstanding obligations and provides account management, customer service and debt recovery solutions for acquired portfolios.

The company serves consumers and financial institutions across North America, Europe and Australia. Its activities include acquiring nonperforming consumer debt from banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions, as well as servicing portfolios on behalf of third parties in selected markets.

PRA Group was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia.

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