PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• PRA Group hit a new 52-week high of $21.74 (last $21.80) and has a market cap of about $845 million, with 50- and 200-day moving averages of $17.13 and $15.99 respectively.
• The company beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.46 EPS versus $0.50 estimated and revenue of $333.39 million versus $288.86 million, but still reported a negative net margin of 25.39%.
• Analysts have recently downgraded the stock and the consensus rating is a Hold (1 Buy, 3 Hold, 1 Sell) with an average target price of $25, while institutional investors own roughly 97% of the shares.

PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $21.74 and last traded at $21.8020, with a volume of 22961 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRAA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded shares of PRA Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of PRA Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of PRA Group from a "market outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of PRA Group in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $25.00.

PRA Group Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $845.13 million, a P/E ratio of -2.82 and a beta of 1.14. The company's 50-day moving average is $17.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.99.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.96. PRA Group had a negative net margin of 25.39% and a positive return on equity of 10.50%. The company had revenue of $333.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.86 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that PRA Group, Inc. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of PRA Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 29,446 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,941 shares in the last quarter. DDFG Inc bought a new stake in shares of PRA Group in the 1st quarter worth $346,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of PRA Group in the 1st quarter worth $303,000. OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of PRA Group in the 1st quarter worth $483,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 119,906 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,098,000 after purchasing an additional 11,021 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.22% of the company's stock.

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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