PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Stock Rating Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

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

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PRA Group in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Zacks Research raised PRA Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PRA Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.00.

PRA Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PRAA opened at $20.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $777.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.07 and a beta of 1.11. PRA Group has a 1-year low of $10.25 and a 1-year high of $22.55. The company’s fifty day moving average is $18.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.10.

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

Institutional Trading of PRA Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PRAA. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in PRA Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $281,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in PRA Group by 68.1% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 99,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,896,000 after purchasing an additional 40,439 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of PRA Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of PRA Group by 34.0% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 16,490 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 4,185 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 288.0% during the second quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 200,848 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,814,000 after buying an additional 149,078 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.22% of the company’s stock.

About PRA Group

PRA Group, Inc is a global financial services company that purchases portfolios of accounts receivable from banks, credit unions, consumer finance companies and other creditors. These portfolios generally consist of nonperforming or distressed consumer accounts, including unpaid credit card balances, personal loans and other forms of unsecured debt.

After acquiring receivables, PRA Group works directly with consumers to establish repayment arrangements and resolve outstanding obligations.