Quadrature Capital Ltd Reduces Stock Position in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Quadrature Capital Ltd decreased its holdings in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) by 23.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,640 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,991 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Encore Capital Group were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 8,700.0% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 528 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Encore Capital Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 450.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 54.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $60,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Laura Olle sold 1,340 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.16, for a total value of $65,874.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,381 shares in the company, valued at $1,591,849.96. This trade represents a 3.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Encore Capital Group Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Encore Capital Group stock opened at $48.81 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.22 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.46. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.64 and a 52-week high of $54.55.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The asset manager reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.22). 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 $367.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $360.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Encore Capital Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ECPG. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Encore Capital Group from $70.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Northland Capmk upgraded 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 company from $55.00 to $58.00 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $62.33.

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.