Man Group plc Takes $405,000 Position in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Man Group plc purchased a new position in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,488 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $405,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sigma Planning Corp increased its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 317.0% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 13,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 9,943 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 512,042 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,460,000 after purchasing an additional 30,545 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,588,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $123,675,000 after purchasing an additional 16,663 shares in the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $643,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,361,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ECPG. Wall Street Zen raised Encore Capital Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Encore Capital Group from $64.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.67.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

Shares of ECPG opened at $38.17 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.36. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.45 and a 52 week high of $51.77. The stock has a market cap of $891.23 million, a P/E ratio of -4.86 and a beta of 1.65.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The asset manager reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.69. The business had revenue of $392.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $374.49 million. Encore Capital Group had a positive return on equity of 12.70% and a negative net margin of 13.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Encore Capital Group

In other Encore Capital Group news, Director Ashwini Gupta acquired 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $35.10 per share, with a total value of $1,404,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 96,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,401,505.90. The trade was a 70.29% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ashish Masih acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $35.14 per share, for a total transaction of $702,800.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Encore Capital Group

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.