Peregrine Capital Management LLC Has $4.79 Million Stock Holdings in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG - Free Report) by 24.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,330 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 31,129 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.40% of Encore Capital Group worth $4,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 162.8% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 4,216 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 2,612 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 33.0% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,117 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $823,000 after buying an additional 3,253 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 14.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 21,380 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,341,000 after buying an additional 2,638 shares during the period. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd increased its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 108.2% during the first quarter. Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd now owns 12,700 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 6,600 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 44.8% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 110,383 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,924,000 after buying an additional 34,132 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Encore Capital Group news, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $275,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,120,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, TheStreet cut shares of Encore Capital Group from a "c-" rating to a "d+" rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th.

Encore Capital Group Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ ECPG traded down $0.42 on Thursday, hitting $43.65. 186,310 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 162,777. The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 1.36. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.74 and a 12 month high of $54.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.78 and a 200-day moving average of $47.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.54.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The asset manager reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $277.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.77 million. Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 16.89% and a positive return on equity of 9.46%. As a group, analysts forecast that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Encore Capital Group Company 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.