26,726 Shares in Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG Acquired by Carnegie Investment Counsel

Key Points

• Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new stake of 26,726 shares in Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) in Q4, valued at about $1.45 million and representing roughly 0.12% ownership.
• Encore reported a strong quarter with $3.37 EPS versus $2.20 expected and $473.55 million in revenue, prompting multiple analyst upgrades and a consensus Buy rating with a $75.50 price target.
• Insider Ryan B. Bell sold 7,240 shares at an average price of $69.04 on March 2, a 13.07% reduction in his stake; insiders now own 2.63% of the company.

Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 26,726 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,453,000. Carnegie Investment Counsel owned 0.12% of Encore Capital Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group during the third quarter worth $88,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 168.9% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,716 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,706 shares during the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Encore Capital Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $143,000. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new position in Encore Capital Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $174,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Encore Capital Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $214,000.

Insider Transactions at Encore Capital Group

In related news, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 7,240 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.04, for a total value of $499,849.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 48,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,325,656.80. The trade was a 13.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ECPG shares. Northland Securities set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on Encore Capital Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research raised Encore Capital Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Encore Capital Group from $59.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.50.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

Shares of Encore Capital Group stock opened at $75.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.10, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.26. The firm's 50-day moving average is $65.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.40. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 1 year low of $28.46 and a 1 year high of $79.52.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The asset manager reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $1.17. Encore Capital Group had a net margin of 14.52% and a return on equity of 28.19%. The business had revenue of $473.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $423.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($9.42) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Encore Capital Group

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.

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