Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Invests $698,000 in Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 16,733 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $698,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.07% of Encore Capital Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in Encore Capital Group by 9.8% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 98,934 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,830,000 after buying an additional 8,828 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 79,641 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,083,000 after acquiring an additional 4,546 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 168.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,716 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,706 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 224.5% during the 2nd quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 18,726 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $725,000 after acquiring an additional 12,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 46.7% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,533 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 3,673 shares in the last quarter.

Encore Capital Group Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ ECPG opened at $55.41 on Friday. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 1-year low of $26.45 and a 1-year high of $56.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.77. The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of -30.28 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The asset manager reported $3.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $1.25. Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 2.89% and a positive return on equity of 25.27%. The business had revenue of $460.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. Encore Capital Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ECPG. Wall Street Zen cut Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised their target price on shares of Encore Capital Group from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.50.

Insider Transactions at Encore Capital Group

In other Encore Capital Group news, insider John Yung sold 1,000 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total value of $52,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 56,609 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,943,668. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Laura Olle sold 1,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.79, for a total value of $75,120.17. Following the sale, the director owned 35,024 shares in the company, valued at $1,848,916.96. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 4,923 shares of company stock valued at $264,620 over the last 90 days. 2.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Encore Capital Group Company Profile

Encore Capital Group, Inc is a global specialty finance company that focuses on the purchase and management of nonperforming consumer receivables. Through its subsidiaries, the company acquires charged-off debt portfolios from credit card issuers, banks, and other financial institutions, and seeks to recover outstanding balances through a combination of customer outreach, payment arrangements, and, where appropriate, legal collection efforts. Encore’s business model emphasizes compliance with regulatory and industry standards to ensure ethical and transparent debt-recovery practices.

Headquartered in San Diego, California, Encore operates across North America and Europe.