Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 236,534 Shares of PRA Group, Inc. $PRAA

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors reduced its PRA Group stake by 12.6%, selling 236,534 shares and retaining 1.64 million shares valued at approximately $28.6 million, or 4.29% of the company.
• Other institutional investors—including Bleakley Financial, Principal Financial, Fifth Third, HSBC and Counterpoint—added to their positions; institutions collectively own 97.22% of PRA Group’s shares.
• PRA Group exceeded quarterly expectations with EPS of $0.73 versus a $0.51 estimate and revenue of $314.5 million. Despite a consensus “Hold” rating and a $26 target price, analysts remain mixed, with one Buy, three Holds and one Sell.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its stake in PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA - Free Report) by 12.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,635,606 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 236,534 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 4.29% of PRA Group worth $28,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of PRA Group by 53.1% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 32,110 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 11,140 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $3,318,000 after buying an additional 3,606 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of PRA Group by 7,735.7% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,011 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 8,896 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of PRA Group by 11.0% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 64,751 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 6,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of PRA Group by 12.0% in the first quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 32,416 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 3,479 shares during the period. 97.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PRA Group Price Performance

Shares of PRA Group stock opened at $17.19 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.57. PRA Group, Inc. has a one year low of $10.25 and a one year high of $22.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $655.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.40 and a beta of 1.11.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.22. PRA Group had a positive return on equity of 13.19% and a negative net margin of 22.51%.The business had revenue of $314.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $295.90 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PRA Group, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of PRA Group in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of PRA Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PRA Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.00.

PRA Group Profile

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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