PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

PRAA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Zacks Research cut PRA Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of PRA Group from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PRA Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

PRA Group Price Performance

Shares of PRAA opened at $19.16 on Friday. PRA Group has a 1 year low of $10.25 and a 1 year high of $22.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $19.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.48. The firm has a market cap of $721.37 million, a PE ratio of -2.85 and a beta of 1.13.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.99. The company had revenue of $372.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.99 million. PRA Group had a positive return on equity of 15.56% and a negative net margin of 19.91%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PRA Group will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PRA Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PRAA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of PRA Group during the second quarter worth $2,404,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of PRA Group in the second quarter worth $1,091,000. Susquehanna International Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 288.0% in the second quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 200,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,814,000 after acquiring an additional 149,078 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of PRA Group in the second quarter valued at $2,275,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of PRA Group by 10.3% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 827,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,718,000 after purchasing an additional 77,188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.22% of the company’s stock.

About PRA Group

PRA Group, Inc is a global financial services company that purchases and manages portfolios of defaulted consumer accounts. The company works with individuals to help resolve outstanding obligations and provides account management, customer service and debt recovery solutions for acquired portfolios.

The company serves consumers and financial institutions across North America, Europe and Australia. Its activities include acquiring nonperforming consumer debt from banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions, as well as servicing portfolios on behalf of third parties in selected markets.

PRA Group was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia.