Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Invests $363,000 in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,589 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $363,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,588,969 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $123,675,000 after buying an additional 16,663 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 30.1% in 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 6.3% in 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 buying an additional 30,545 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 387,550 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $18,513,000 after buying an additional 1,968 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 73.1% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 318,096 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $15,195,000 after buying an additional 134,309 shares during the period.

Encore Capital Group Stock Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:ECPG traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $40.91. 297,171 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 200,611. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.45 and a twelve month high of $51.77. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $33.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.87. The firm has a market cap of $955.21 million, a P/E ratio of -5.21 and a beta of 1.65.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The asset manager reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $392.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $374.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Encore Capital Group

In other news, Director Ashwini Gupta bought 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,401,505.90. This trade represents a 70.29% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ashish Masih bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $35.14 per share, for a total transaction of $702,800.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 322,254 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,324,005.56. This represents 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ECPG shares. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Encore Capital Group from $64.00 to $57.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised Encore Capital Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target 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.