Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Invests $698,000 in Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 16,733 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $698,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,248,831 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $48,342,000 after purchasing an additional 104,367 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 583,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,577,000 after buying an additional 14,353 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 235,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,113,000 after buying an additional 39,406 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Encore Capital Group by 6.1% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 128,041 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,956,000 after buying an additional 7,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Encore Capital Group by 72.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 118,665 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,594,000 after buying an additional 49,805 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECPG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott boosted their target price on shares of Encore Capital Group from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Zacks Research raised Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.50.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

Shares of Encore Capital Group stock opened at $55.41 on Friday. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 52 week low of $26.45 and a 52 week high of $56.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $49.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.77. The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of -30.28 and a beta of 1.48.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The asset manager reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $1.25. The company had revenue of $460.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $410.70 million. Encore Capital Group had a positive return on equity of 25.27% and a negative net margin of 2.89%.Encore Capital Group’s quarterly revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Encore Capital Group

In related news, insider John Yung sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total transaction of $52,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 56,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,943,668. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Laura Olle sold 1,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.79, for a total transaction of $75,120.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 35,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,848,916.96. The trade was a 3.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 4,923 shares of company stock worth $264,620 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.54% of the company’s stock.

Encore Capital Group Company 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.