Corton Capital Inc. Invests $208,000 in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Corton Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,349 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sigma Planning Corp increased its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 317.0% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 13,080 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 9,943 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 512,042 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,460,000 after purchasing an additional 30,545 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Encore Capital Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,588,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $123,675,000 after acquiring an additional 16,663 shares during the period. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $643,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group in the fourth quarter valued at $3,361,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ECPG. StockNews.com raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Encore Capital Group from $64.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Encore Capital Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.67.

Insider Activity at Encore Capital Group

In other news, Director Ashwini Gupta purchased 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 96,909 shares in the company, valued at $3,401,505.90. This represents a 70.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ashish Masih purchased 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired 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 approximately $11,324,005.56. The trade was a 6.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Encore Capital Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ ECPG opened at $32.92 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $771.91 million, a P/E ratio of -4.19 and a beta of 1.65. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a one year low of $26.45 and a one year high of $51.77.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The asset manager reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.69. Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 13.91% and a positive return on equity of 12.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.