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

PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 868,056 shares, a decrease of 42.7% from the June 15th total of 1,515,485 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,422,498 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.6 days.

PRA Group Stock Performance

PRA Group stock traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $18.06. The company had a trading volume of 116,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 561,126. The firm has a market cap of $688.81 million, a P/E ratio of -2.52 and a beta of 1.10. PRA Group has a 1 year low of $10.25 and a 1 year high of $22.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.55.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The business services provider reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.22. PRA Group had a negative net margin of 22.51% and a positive return on equity of 13.19%. The business had revenue of $314.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $295.90 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PRA Group will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered PRA Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PRA Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PRA Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PRA Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PRAA. Topline Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PRA Group by 168.3% during the second quarter. Topline Capital Management LLC now owns 2,250,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,197,000 after buying an additional 1,411,707 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in PRA Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,499,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,895 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake 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 worth $22,941,000 after acquiring an additional 156,520 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in PRA Group by 15.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 819,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,091,000 after acquiring an additional 109,857 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in PRA Group by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 752,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,304,000 after acquiring an additional 95,179 shares in the last quarter. 97.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.