Head to Head Review: Dave (NASDAQ:DAVE) versus PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA)

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) and Dave (NASDAQ:DAVE) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for PRA Group and Dave, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
PRA Group	1	2	1	1	2.40
Dave	0	3	12	0	2.80

PRA Group currently has a consensus target price of $26.00, suggesting a potential upside of 32.79%. Dave has a consensus target price of $410.82, suggesting a potential upside of 15.81%. Given PRA Group’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe PRA Group is more favorable than Dave.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

97.2% of PRA Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.0% of Dave shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of PRA Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.6% of Dave shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

PRA Group has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dave has a beta of 3.83, indicating that its stock price is 283% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares PRA Group and Dave’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
PRA Group	-19.91%	15.56%	3.18%
Dave	34.58%	77.46%	40.44%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares PRA Group and Dave”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
PRA Group	$1.34 billion	0.55	-$305.14 million	($6.73)	-2.91
Dave	$554.20 million	8.17	$195.87 million	$15.42	23.00

Dave has lower revenue, but higher earnings than PRA Group. PRA Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Dave, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Dave beats PRA Group on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PRA Group

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. The company also acquires nonperforming loans, including Visa and MasterCard credit card accounts, private label and other credit card accounts, personal loans, automobile loans, and small business loans from banks, credit unions, consumer finance companies, retailers, utilities, automobile finance companies, and other credit originators. In addition, it provides fee-based services on class action claims recoveries. The company was formerly known as Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc. and changed its name to PRA Group, Inc. in October 2014. PRA Group, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia.

About Dave

Dave, Inc. is a digital banking service. Its products include a budgeting tool to help members manage their upcoming bills to avoid overspending, cash advances through its flagship ExtraCash product to help members avoid punitive overdraft fees, a Side Hustle product, where Dave helps connect members with supplemental work opportunities, and Dave Banking, a modern checking account experience with valuable tools for building long-term financial health. The company was founded by Jason Wilk, Paras Chitrakar, and John Wolanin in October 2015 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.