Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Northland Securities upped their price objective on Encore Capital Group from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Encore Capital Group from $64.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.67.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

Encore Capital Group stock opened at $31.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $742.00 million, a PE ratio of -3.99 and a beta of 1.73. 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 has a 1 year low of $29.87 and a 1 year high of $51.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.48.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The asset manager reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.55 by ($0.05). Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 13.91% and a positive return on equity of 12.70%. The business had revenue of $265.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $373.40 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Encore Capital Group will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ashish Masih purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $35.14 per share, with a total value of $702,800.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 322,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,324,005.56. This trade represents a 6.62 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ashwini Gupta purchased 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $35.10 per share, for a total transaction of $1,404,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 96,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,401,505.90. This represents a 70.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Encore Capital Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 0.6% during 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 during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Encore Capital Group by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,416,499 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,667,000 after buying an additional 327,637 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Encore Capital Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 900,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $42,575,000 after buying an additional 2,597 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 756,335 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,752,000 after buying an additional 104,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 570,047 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $26,952,000 after acquiring an additional 13,648 shares in the last quarter.

About Encore Capital Group

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.