PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $12.67, but opened at $15.28. PRA Group shares last traded at $15.0530, with a volume of 817,680 shares.

The business services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.96. PRA Group had a positive return on equity of 7.03% and a negative net margin of 29.55%.The company had revenue of $333.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.86 million.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PRA Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup cut PRA Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Citizens Jmp lowered PRA Group from a “market outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research cut PRA Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on PRA Group from $33.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PRA Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS bought a new position in PRA Group in the 2nd quarter worth $150,000. Advent Capital Management DE purchased a new stake in PRA Group in the second quarter worth about $84,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its position in PRA Group by 49.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 84,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 27,890 shares in the last quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 2,111,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,149,000 after acquiring an additional 93,600 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of PRA Group by 437.3% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 93,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 76,505 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.22% of the company’s stock.

PRA Group Stock Up 22.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $607.42 million, a P/E ratio of -1.77 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.40.

PRA Group Company Profile

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.