Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $537,000 Investment in PRA Group, Inc. $PRAA

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 28,273 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PRAA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PRA Group in the second quarter worth $84,183,000. Topline Capital Management LLC raised its stake in PRA Group by 168.3% during the 2nd quarter. Topline Capital Management LLC now owns 2,250,629 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,411,707 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in PRA Group by 401.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 601,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,421,000 after purchasing an additional 481,538 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in PRA Group by 256.7% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 397,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,027,000 after purchasing an additional 285,858 shares during the period. 97.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PRA Group Trading Up 0.5%

PRAA opened at $19.11 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.61. The stock has a market cap of $719.49 million, a PE ratio of -2.84 and a beta of 1.11. PRA Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.25 and a 1 year high of $22.55.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.99. PRA Group had a positive return on equity of 15.56% and a negative net margin of 19.91%.The firm had revenue of $372.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.99 million. Equities analysts forecast that PRA Group, Inc. will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on PRAA shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PRA Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of PRA Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of PRA Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.00.

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.