PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Stock Price Up 12% Following Insider Buying Activity

Shares of PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA - Get Free Report) rose 12% on Monday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The company traded as high as $14.93 and last traded at $15.06. Approximately 286,034 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 6% from the average daily volume of 269,212 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.44.

Specifically, Director Brett Lee Paschke purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.39 per share, for a total transaction of $66,950.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 30,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at $402,449.84. This trade represents a 19.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PRAA. JMP Securities decreased their price target on PRA Group from $30.00 to $23.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com lowered PRA Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th.

PRA Group Stock Up 0.8%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.01 and a 200 day moving average of $20.34. The company has a market capitalization of $614.32 million, a P/E ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.70.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PRA Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PRA Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $753,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in PRA Group by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 117,053 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 41,525 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in PRA Group by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 74,937 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,676,000 after acquiring an additional 21,476 shares in the last quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. boosted its position in PRA Group by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 1,896,000 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $39,607,000 after acquiring an additional 78,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Management Corp VA acquired a new stake in shares of PRA Group in the 4th quarter worth $4,659,000. 97.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About PRA Group

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.