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

PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 717,337 shares, a decline of 19.6% from the December 15th total of 892,160 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 453,823 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Based on an average daily volume of 453,823 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Transactions at PRA Group

In related news, Director Geir Olsen purchased 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.15 per share, with a total value of $212,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 58,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,901.95. This represents a 34.14% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PRA Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in PRA Group by 8.1% during the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 23,622 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 1,775 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new stake in shares of PRA Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $150,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in shares of PRA Group by 2,650.7% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 43,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 42,119 shares during the period. Capital Management Corp VA increased its stake in shares of PRA Group by 56.1% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 551,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,135,000 after purchasing an additional 198,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advent Capital Management DE acquired a new position in PRA Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $84,000. 97.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PRAA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered PRA Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on PRA Group from $33.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PRA Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PRA Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

PRA Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ PRAA opened at $15.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $614.41 million, a P/E ratio of -1.79 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.01. PRA Group has a fifty-two week low of $12.29 and a fifty-two week high of $23.97.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The business services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $247.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $295.77 million. PRA Group had a positive return on equity of 7.03% and a negative net margin of 29.55%. As a group, analysts forecast that PRA Group will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

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.