Jane Street Group LLC Sells 43,330 Shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Jane Street Group LLC reduced its stake in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) by 87.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,389 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 43,330 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Encore Capital Group were worth $305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aquatic Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 2,576.7% in the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 8,030 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 7,730 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 30.1% during 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 buying an additional 327,637 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $241,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 14,158 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 771 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Encore Capital Group

In related news, Director Ashwini Gupta bought 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $35.10 per share, for a total transaction of $1,404,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 96,909 shares in the company, valued at $3,401,505.90. The trade was a 70.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ashish Masih bought 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $35.14 per share, for a total transaction of $702,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 322,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,324,005.56. The trade was a 6.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.54% of the company’s stock.

Encore Capital Group Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:ECPG opened at $37.56 on Tuesday. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.45 and a 52 week high of $51.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $876.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.78 and a beta of 1.65.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The asset manager reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.69. Encore Capital Group had a positive return on equity of 12.70% and a negative net margin of 13.91%. The firm had revenue of $392.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECPG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Encore Capital Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.67.

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.