Ashwini Gupta Buys 40,000 Shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) Stock

Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) Director Ashwini Gupta purchased 40,000 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $35.10 per share, with a total value of $1,404,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 96,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,401,505.90. This trade represents a 70.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Encore Capital Group Stock Up 4.0 %

NASDAQ ECPG opened at $35.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.99 and a 1-year high of $51.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.61 and a 200-day moving average of $47.68. The company has a market cap of $849.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.57 and a beta of 1.55.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The asset manager reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by ($0.05). Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 13.91% and a positive return on equity of 12.70%. The business had revenue of $265.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $373.40 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ECPG. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Northland Securities raised their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $64.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Encore Capital Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ECPG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,588,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $123,675,000 after acquiring an additional 16,663 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,416,499 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,667,000 after acquiring an additional 327,637 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 900,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $42,575,000 after acquiring an additional 2,597 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 16.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 756,335 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,752,000 after acquiring an additional 104,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 570,047 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,952,000 after acquiring an additional 13,648 shares during the last quarter.

Encore Capital Group Company Profile

Encore Capital Group, Inc, a specialty finance company, provides debt recovery solutions and other related services for consumers across financial assets worldwide. The company purchases portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables at deep discounts to face value, as well as manages them by working with individuals as they repay their obligations and works toward financial recovery.