PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Upgraded by Zacks Research to Strong-Buy Rating

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on PRAA. Wall Street Zen cut shares of PRA Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PRA Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PRA Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

PRA Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PRAA opened at $18.74 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $705.56 million, a P/E ratio of -2.78 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $17.26 and its 200 day moving average is $16.64. PRA Group has a fifty-two week low of $10.25 and a fifty-two week high of $22.55.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.99. The business had revenue of $372.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.99 million. PRA Group had a positive return on equity of 15.56% and a negative net margin of 19.91%. As a group, research analysts predict that PRA Group will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PRA Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in PRA Group by 145.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,471 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in PRA Group in the second quarter worth about $49,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in PRA Group by 146.8% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in PRA Group by 375.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 3,777 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.