Wall Street Zen Upgrades PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) to "Hold"

Key Points

• PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) has been upgraded from a "sell" to a "hold" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen.
• JMP Securities has set a price target of $24.00 for PRA Group, while Citigroup has reiterated an "outperform" rating.
• PRA Group reported $1.08 EPS for its last quarter, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.62.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of PRA Group in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. JMP Securities set a $24.00 price objective on shares of PRA Group and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th.

PRA Group Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:PRAA traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $15.27. The company had a trading volume of 251,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,900. The firm has a market cap of $596.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 1.54. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $15.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.68. PRA Group has a twelve month low of $12.91 and a twelve month high of $25.43.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The business services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $287.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $279.34 million. PRA Group had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 6.52%. As a group, equities analysts predict that PRA Group will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of PRA Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Topline Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PRA Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $17,299,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in PRA Group by 195.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 799,307 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $16,698,000 after acquiring an additional 529,041 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in PRA Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,657,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in PRA Group by 356.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 341,952 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,143,000 after acquiring an additional 267,015 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in PRA Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,413,000. Institutional investors own 97.22% of the company's stock.

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.