PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Five brokerages give PRA Group an average “Hold” rating, with a 12-month target price of $26.00 versus the stock’s reported $18.99 price.
• PRA Group’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, reporting $1.51 in earnings per share versus the $0.52 consensus estimate and revenue of $372.17 million versus $299.99 million expected.
• Institutional investors own a substantial 97.22% of PRA Group’s shares, with BlackRock initiating an approximately $84.2 million position and Topline Capital increasing its stake by 168.3%.

PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.00.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PRAA shares. Zacks Research upgraded PRA Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded PRA Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of PRA Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th.

PRA Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ PRAA opened at $18.99 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $18.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.44. PRA Group has a 52-week low of $10.25 and a 52-week high of $22.55. The company has a market cap of $714.97 million, a PE ratio of -2.82 and a beta of 1.11.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. On average, analysts forecast that PRA Group will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of PRA Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PRA Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $84,183,000. Topline Capital Management LLC lifted its position in PRA Group by 168.3% during the second quarter. Topline Capital Management LLC now owns 2,250,629 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,197,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411,707 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in PRA Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,499,488 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $26,526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,895 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in PRA Group by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,296,830 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $22,941,000 after acquiring an additional 156,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in PRA Group by 15.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 819,742 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,091,000 after acquiring an additional 109,857 shares in the last quarter. 97.22% of the stock is currently owned by 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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