PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA) Stock Position Boosted by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA - Free Report) by 59.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 416,719 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 155,608 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 1.06% of PRA Group worth $8,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of PRA Group by 55.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 117,053 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,618,000 after buying an additional 41,525 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 40.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 74,937 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,676,000 after purchasing an additional 21,476 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in PRA Group during the 4th quarter valued at $753,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of PRA Group by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 64,091 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 191,168 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,994,000 after buying an additional 5,434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.22% of the company's stock.

PRA Group Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ PRAA traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $14.70. 48,176 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 281,981. The company has a market cap of $582.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.31. PRA Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.91 and a 1-year high of $27.54.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The business services provider reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.32). PRA Group had a return on equity of 5.16% and a net margin of 6.33%. The firm had revenue of $269.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.09 EPS. PRA Group's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that PRA Group, Inc. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PRA Group

In other PRA Group news, Director Brett Lee Paschke acquired 5,000 shares of PRA Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $13.39 per share, for a total transaction of $66,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 30,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,449.84. This represents a 19.96% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PRAA shares. JMP Securities lowered their price objective on PRA Group from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of PRA Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th.

PRA Group Company Profile

PRA Group, Inc, a financial and business services company, engages in the purchase, collection, and management of portfolios of nonperforming loans worldwide. It is involved in the purchase of accounts that are primarily the unpaid obligations of individuals owed to credit originators, which include banks and other types of consumer, retail, and auto finance companies.