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

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PRA Group in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

PRA Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PRAA opened at $15.26 on Friday. PRA Group has a 52-week low of $10.25 and a 52-week high of $22.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $582.02 million, a P/E ratio of -2.13 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.51.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PRA Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in PRA Group by 16.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 111,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,945,000 after acquiring an additional 15,538 shares in the last quarter. Amundi bought a new stake in PRA Group in the first quarter worth $298,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PRA Group by 49.6% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in PRA Group in the first quarter worth $366,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in PRA Group by 19.3% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 49,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 7,994 shares in the last quarter. 97.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.