PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Stock Moved Down to Buy by 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 target price.
• PRAA shares opened at $19.49 after declining 2.7%; the stock has traded between $10.25 and $22.55 over the past year and has a market capitalization of approximately $733.8 million.
• PRA Group’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $1.51 per share versus a $0.52 consensus estimate and revenue of $372.17 million versus $299.99 million expected. Institutional investors own 97.22% of the company’s stock.

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

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut PRA Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings raised PRA Group from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. 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 stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.00.

PRA Group Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of PRAA stock opened at $19.49 on Friday. PRA Group has a 12-month low of $10.25 and a 12-month high of $22.55. The company has a market cap of $733.80 million, a PE ratio of -2.90 and a beta of 1.13. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $19.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.53.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.99. PRA Group had a positive return on equity of 15.56% and a negative net margin of 19.91%. The company had revenue of $372.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.99 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that PRA Group will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PRA Group

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

PRA Group Company Profile

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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