Zimmer Partners LP Takes $260,000 Position in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 5,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Comerica Bank raised its stake in Encore Capital Group by 22.1% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 13,181 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 2,389 shares in the last quarter. EJF Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Encore Capital Group by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 41,794 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in Encore Capital Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $248,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Encore Capital Group by 5.1% in 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 buying an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Encore Capital Group during the first quarter worth about $138,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Andrew Eric Asch sold 1,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $62,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 18,075 shares in the company, valued at $903,750. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.63% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Monday, May 6th.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ECPG traded down $2.24 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $48.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 146,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 153,015. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.53, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. 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 market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.63 and a beta of 1.55.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Encore Capital Group had a negative net margin of 16.30% and a positive return on equity of 9.95%. The firm had revenue of $328.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.59 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.