Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 219 Shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its position in shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,259 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 219 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Encore Capital Group were worth $345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janney Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC now owns 7,808 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,422 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 7.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,692 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its position in Encore Capital Group by 5.4% during the second quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 15,652 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $653,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Encore Capital Group by 5.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,949 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares in the last quarter.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ ECPG opened at $47.53 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $47.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.58. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of -5.54 and a beta of 1.55. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $54.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The asset manager reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $355.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $346.06 million. Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 15.43% and a positive return on equity of 11.12%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Andrew Eric Asch sold 1,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $62,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $903,750. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $70.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th.

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.