PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• PRA Group's shares hit a new 52-week high of $22.55 on Monday (last $22.2050) on ~458,699 shares traded, with a market cap of about $832.2M and 50-/200-day moving averages of $17.99/$16.22 indicating a short-term uptrend.
• In the latest quarter PRA Group beat expectations with EPS of $1.46 (vs. $0.50 expected) and revenue of $333.4M (vs. $288.9M est.), though the company reported a negative net margin of 25.39% despite a 10.5% return on equity.
• Analysts' consensus is a Hold with an average price target of $25 after several downgrades, while institutional ownership stands at 97.22% and several large managers have recently increased their positions.

PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $22.55 and last traded at $22.2050, with a volume of 458699 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PRAA shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of PRA Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of PRA Group from a "market outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of PRA Group in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of PRA Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.00.

PRA Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $832.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.80 and a beta of 1.26. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $17.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.22.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Topline Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of PRA Group by 16.2% during the third quarter. Topline Capital Management LLC now owns 2,615,711 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,387,000 after buying an additional 365,082 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,895 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 156,520 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of PRA Group by 15.5% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 819,742 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $12,091,000 after buying an additional 109,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of PRA Group by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 752,064 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $13,304,000 after buying an additional 95,179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.22% of the company's stock.

PRA Group Company 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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