Semanteon Capital Management LP Acquires New Stake in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 13,467 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $643,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 54.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Encore Capital Group in the 4th quarter valued at $84,000. Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in Encore Capital Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $156,000. Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in Encore Capital Group in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 694,200.0% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,943 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $332,000 after buying an additional 6,942 shares in the last quarter.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

ECPG opened at $34.79 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $44.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.39. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.54 and a 12-month high of $51.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The firm has a market cap of $824.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.43 and a beta of 1.73.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The asset manager reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.55 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $265.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $373.40 million. Encore Capital Group had a positive return on equity of 12.70% and a negative net margin of 13.91%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Encore Capital Group

In related news, Director Ashwini Gupta purchased 40,000 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $35.10 per share, with a total value of $1,404,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,401,505.90. This trade represents a 70.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ashish Masih purchased 20,000 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $35.14 per share, for a total transaction of $702,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 322,254 shares in the company, valued at $11,324,005.56. This represents a 6.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on ECPG shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Encore Capital Group from $64.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Northland Securities increased their price target on Encore Capital Group from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Encore Capital Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.67.

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.