PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA) Sees Large Volume Increase After Insider Buying Activity

PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAA – Get Rating) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday following insider buying activity. 170,208 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the previous session’s volume of 327,418 shares.The stock last traded at $19.00 and had previously closed at $18.33.

Specifically, CEO Vikram A. Atal bought 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.81 per share, for a total transaction of $752,400.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $376,200. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other PRA Group news, Director Brett Lee Paschke purchased 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.91 per share, for a total transaction of $141,825.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at $231,647.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Vikram A. Atal purchased 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.81 per share, with a total value of $752,400.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $376,200. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PRAA. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of PRA Group from $50.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of PRA Group in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JMP Securities cut their price objective on shares of PRA Group from $50.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 9th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of PRA Group from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd.

PRA Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $740.31 million, a PE ratio of 42.00 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.77.

PRA Group (NASDAQ:PRAA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 8th. The business services provider reported ($1.50) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($1.95). The firm had revenue of $155.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $223.52 million. PRA Group had a return on equity of 1.50% and a net margin of 2.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 35.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PRA Group, Inc. will post -0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PRA Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PRAA. Group One Trading L.P. increased its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 106.7% in the 1st quarter. Group One Trading L.P. now owns 700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 11,133 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PRA Group by 56.0% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 22,934 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 8,236 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in PRA Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 124,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,613,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in PRA Group by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 37,599 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after acquiring an additional 4,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in PRA Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,890,693 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $85,233,000 after acquiring an additional 30,304 shares in the last quarter.

About PRA Group

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PRA Group, Inc engages in the purchase, collection and management of portfolios of nonperforming loans. The firm purchase portfolios of nonperforming loans at a discount in two broad categories: Core and Insolvency. It also provides fee-based services on class action claims recoveries and by servicing consumer bankruptcy accounts in the United States.