Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its stake in Encore Capital Group by 75.6% in Q3, selling 294,528 shares and leaving 95,216 shares (about 0.43% ownership) valued at roughly $3.97 million.
• Encore posted a strong quarter, with EPS of $3.37 vs. $2.20 expected and revenue of $473.6M vs. $423.1M expected (revenue +78.3% YoY); analysts have a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $75.50.
• Insider Ryan B. Bell sold 7,240 shares at an average $69.04 (a 13.07% reduction in his stake); the stock trades at a P/E of 6.49 and the company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.10.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its position in shares of Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG - Free Report) by 75.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 95,216 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 294,528 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.43% of Encore Capital Group worth $3,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group in the third quarter worth about $586,000. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Encore Capital Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,001,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 41.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 95,945 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,005,000 after buying an additional 28,184 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Encore Capital Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $143,000. Finally, Mariner LLC purchased a new position in Encore Capital Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $340,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on ECPG shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $70.00 price objective on Encore Capital Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Encore Capital Group has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $75.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Encore Capital Group news, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 7,240 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction 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 approximately $3,325,656.80. The trade was a 13.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.54% of the company's stock.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ECPG opened at $71.14 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 1.26. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 12 month low of $26.45 and a 12 month high of $74.58. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $63.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.10, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The asset manager reported $3.37 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $473.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $423.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($9.42) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Encore Capital Group 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.

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