M&T Bank Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

M&T Bank Corp reduced its position in shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 329 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Encore Capital Group were worth $225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,137,752 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,782,000 after buying an additional 5,373 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 900,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $42,575,000 after acquiring an additional 2,597 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Encore Capital Group by 16.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 756,335 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,752,000 after acquiring an additional 104,509 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Encore Capital Group by 4.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 481,497 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,760,000 after acquiring an additional 18,467 shares during the period. Finally, Phase 2 Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 219.9% in the third quarter. Phase 2 Partners LLC now owns 241,509 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,416,000 after acquiring an additional 166,014 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Encore Capital Group

In other news, Director Laura Olle sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.16, for a total value of $65,874.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 32,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,591,849.96. This represents a 3.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Encore Capital Group Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ECPG opened at $47.41 on Friday. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.64 and a 1 year high of $54.55. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $47.89 and a 200 day moving average of $46.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.04 and a beta of 1.55.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last released 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). Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 13.91% and a positive return on equity of 12.70%. The business had revenue of $367.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $360.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Encore Capital Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Encore Capital Group 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.