PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $16.15, but opened at $17.15. PRA Group shares last traded at $17.69, with a volume of 8,300 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on PRAA. Wall Street Zen lowered PRA Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PRA Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PRA Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

PRA Group Stock Up 5.4%

The firm has a market cap of $682.52 million, a PE ratio of -2.50 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.53.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $314.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $295.90 million. PRA Group had a negative net margin of 22.51% and a positive return on equity of 13.19%. As a group, analysts anticipate that PRA Group, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PRA Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in PRA Group by 5.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of PRA Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 94,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,679,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of PRA Group by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,051 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its position in shares of PRA Group by 3.2% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in PRA Group by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.22% of the company’s stock.

About PRA Group

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.