Man Group plc Acquires Shares of 8,488 Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 8,488 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $405,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,588,969 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $123,675,000 after buying an additional 16,663 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 327,637 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 30,545 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 319,210 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $15,249,000 after purchasing an additional 16,180 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other Encore Capital Group news, CEO Ashish Masih acquired 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $35.14 per share, for a total transaction of $702,800.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ashwini Gupta bought 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $35.10 per share, with a total value of $1,404,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,401,505.90. This trade represents a 70.29% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Encore Capital Group Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ ECPG traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 268,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 205,371. The stock has a market capitalization of $886.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.84 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The asset manager reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.69. The business had revenue of $392.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.49 million. Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 13.91% and a positive return on equity of 12.70%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ECPG. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $64.00 to $57.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report 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 analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $62.67.

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.