Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 301 Shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,683 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Encore Capital Group were worth $694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 10,183 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,618 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group during the fourth quarter worth about $599,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group during the fourth quarter worth about $209,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group during the fourth quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group during the fourth quarter worth about $853,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on ECPG. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet lowered Encore Capital Group from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $275,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 42,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,120,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Encore Capital Group Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of ECPG opened at $42.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.54. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.74 and a 1 year high of $54.73.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The asset manager reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $277.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.77 million. Encore Capital Group had a positive return on equity of 9.46% and a negative net margin of 16.89%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Encore Capital Group 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.