Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Sells 1,880 Shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,670 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,880 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.09% of Encore Capital Group worth $987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 4.3% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 8,828 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its stake in Encore Capital Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 14,278 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Encore Capital Group by 54.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Encore Capital Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Finally, Petrus Trust Company LTA lifted its stake in Encore Capital Group by 22.8% in the third quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 12,789 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 2,377 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Encore Capital Group

In other news, Director Ashwini Gupta purchased 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $35.10 per share, with a total value of $1,404,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,401,505.90. This represents a 70.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ashish Masih purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $35.14 per share, for a total transaction of $702,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 322,254 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Encore Capital Group Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Encore Capital Group stock opened at $34.51 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.50. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.54 and a 12-month high of $51.77. The company has a market capitalization of $817.58 million, a P/E ratio of -4.40 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The asset manager reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $265.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $373.40 million. Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 13.91% and a positive return on equity of 12.70%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECPG has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Encore Capital Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Encore Capital Group from $64.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Northland Securities upped their price target on Encore Capital Group from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.67.

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.