35,852 Shares in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) Acquired by Voloridge Investment Management LLC

Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 35,852 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,713,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned 0.15% of Encore Capital Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ECPG. Man Group plc acquired a new stake in Encore Capital Group during the fourth quarter worth $405,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,535 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 6,619 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 317.0% during the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 13,080 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 9,943 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 30,545 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $123,675,000 after purchasing an additional 16,663 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ashwini Gupta purchased 40,000 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $35.10 per share, for a total transaction 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 represents a 70.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ashish Masih acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $35.14 per share, with a total value of $702,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 322,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,324,005.56. This represents a 6.62% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ECPG shares. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on 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 raised Encore Capital Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.67.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

Shares of ECPG traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $37.56. The stock had a trading volume of 247,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 205,541. The stock has a market capitalization of $876.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.78 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company's fifty day moving average is $34.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.98. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.45 and a 52 week high of $51.77.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The asset manager reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.69. The firm had revenue of $392.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

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.