Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Invests $667,000 in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,968 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $667,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 67,268 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,213,000 after purchasing an additional 8,213 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 2,576.7% during the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 8,030 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 7,730 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,416,499 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,667,000 after purchasing an additional 327,637 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,575 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Encore Capital Group during the fourth quarter worth $241,000.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

Shares of ECPG stock opened at $40.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The firm has a market cap of $954.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.21 and a beta of 1.65. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.45 and a 12 month high of $51.77.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The asset manager reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.69. The firm had revenue of $392.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $374.49 million. Encore Capital Group had a positive return on equity of 12.70% and a negative net margin of 13.91%. The company’s revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ashish Masih bought 20,000 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $35.14 per share, for a total transaction of $702,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 322,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,324,005.56. This represents a 6.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashwini Gupta bought 40,000 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $35.10 per share, for a total transaction of $1,404,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 96,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,401,505.90. The trade was a 70.29% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECPG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded Encore Capital Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Encore Capital Group currently has an average 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.