Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Acquires 5,373 Shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) by 0.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,137,752 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 5,373 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Encore Capital Group were worth $53,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in Encore Capital Group by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 394,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,006,000 after purchasing an additional 59,624 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 182,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Encore Capital Group by 221.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 130,127 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,430,000 after acquiring an additional 89,596 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Encore Capital Group by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 80,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,345,000 after purchasing an additional 30,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 73,105 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,051,000 after purchasing an additional 8,991 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ECPG shares. Northland Capmk raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $58.00 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Encore Capital Group from $70.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.67.

Encore Capital Group Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of Encore Capital Group stock opened at $45.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.74 and a 12-month high of $54.55. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.42.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The asset manager reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $355.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $346.06 million. Encore Capital Group had a positive return on equity of 11.12% and a negative net margin of 15.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

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.