Bank of America Corp DE Has $3.21 Million Holdings in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG - Free Report) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,268 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 8,213 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.28% of Encore Capital Group worth $3,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Encore Capital Group by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 530 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Encore Capital Group during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Encore Capital Group by 827.2% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 751 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 152.5% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,333 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Encore Capital Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $150,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ECPG. Truist Financial decreased 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 research note 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.67.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ ECPG traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $37.56. The company had a trading volume of 247,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 205,541. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.06. The stock 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.45 and a fifty-two week high of $51.77.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The asset manager reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.69. The company had revenue of $392.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.49 million. Encore Capital Group had a positive return on equity of 12.70% and a negative net margin of 13.91%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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 Encore Capital Group news, Director Ashwini Gupta bought 40,000 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $35.10 per share, with a total value of $1,404,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 96,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,401,505.90. The trade was a 70.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ashish Masih bought 20,000 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $35.14 per share, for a total transaction of $702,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 322,254 shares in the company, valued at $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.

Encore Capital Group 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.