Insider Selling: Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) Insider Sells $499,849.60 in Stock

Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) insider Ryan Bell sold 7,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.04, for a total transaction of $499,849.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 48,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,325,656.80. This represents a 13.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Encore Capital Group Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ ECPG opened at $70.68 on Friday. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 12-month low of $26.45 and a 12-month high of $74.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.10. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 1.35.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The asset manager reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $1.17. The firm had revenue of $473.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $423.14 million. Encore Capital Group had a return on equity of 28.19% and a net margin of 14.52%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($9.42) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ECPG. Wall Street Zen upgraded Encore Capital Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Northland Securities set a $70.00 price target on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $59.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upped their target price on shares of Encore Capital Group from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Encore Capital Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.50.

Institutional Trading of Encore Capital Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Encore Capital Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Encore Capital Group by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,053 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 3,924 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 102,502 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,571,000 after acquiring an additional 3,951 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in Encore Capital Group by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 6,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063 shares during the period. Finally, VARCOV Co. bought a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group during the fourth quarter valued at $599,000.

About Encore Capital Group

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.