PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,228,898 shares, a drop of 17.1% from the February 26th total of 1,481,815 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 706,979 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

PRA Group Stock Up 1.5%

NASDAQ PRAA opened at $17.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $672.93 million, a P/E ratio of -2.24 and a beta of 1.23. PRA Group has a 52-week low of $10.25 and a 52-week high of $22.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.49.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The business services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.96. The company had revenue of $333.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $288.86 million. PRA Group had a positive return on equity of 10.50% and a negative net margin of 25.39%. On average, equities research analysts expect that PRA Group will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citizens Jmp cut PRA Group from a “market outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PRA Group in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research cut shares of PRA Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of PRA Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRAA. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in PRA Group by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,296,830 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,941,000 after acquiring an additional 156,520 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its stake in shares of PRA Group by 427.1% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 81,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 66,011 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 242.6% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 464,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,214,000 after purchasing an additional 328,804 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 427,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,560,000 after purchasing an additional 11,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its stake in shares of PRA Group by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 65,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 23,943 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.