Jane Street Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) by 191.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,719 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,672 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Encore Capital Group were worth $2,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ECPG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 0.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 182,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 15,652 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Encore Capital Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $60,000. nVerses Capital LLC grew its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 450.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 8.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,980 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the last quarter.

Encore Capital Group Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of ECPG opened at $46.83 on Monday. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.64 and a fifty-two week high of $54.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $47.93 and its 200 day moving average is $46.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of -5.97 and a beta of 1.55.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The asset manager reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $367.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $360.70 million. Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 13.91% and a positive return on equity of 12.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laura Olle sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.16, for a total value of $65,874.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 32,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,591,849.96. This trade represents a 3.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ECPG. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 29th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Northland Securities raised Encore Capital Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $58.00 in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Encore Capital Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.33.

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.