Tredje AP fonden Acquires New Position in Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG

Tredje AP fonden bought a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 22,121 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $923,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group in the second quarter worth $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Encore Capital Group in the 3rd quarter worth $88,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 168.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,716 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 1,706 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 83.4% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 1,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. bought a new stake in Encore Capital Group during the third quarter valued at about $174,000.

Encore Capital Group Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Encore Capital Group stock opened at $58.41 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.92 and a beta of 1.41. Encore Capital Group Inc has a one year low of $26.45 and a one year high of $59.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $55.93 and its 200 day moving average is $48.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Encore Capital Group news, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total value of $137,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 55,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,047,550. This trade represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Yung sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total transaction of $52,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 56,609 shares in the company, valued at $2,943,668. This represents a 1.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 4,923 shares of company stock valued at $264,620 over the last ninety days. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECPG. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group from $59.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Northland Securities set a $70.00 target price on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lifted their price target on shares of Encore Capital Group from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Encore Capital Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.00.

Encore Capital Group 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.