Royce & Associates LP Has $857,000 Holdings in Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP sold 195,389 shares of Encore Capital Group Inc, reducing its holdings by 88.7% to 25,000 shares worth approximately $857,000.
• Nomura Asset Management and other large investors have increased their stakes, with Nomura boosting its position by 120.8% in the fourth quarter.
• Encore Capital Group reported $1.93 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and experienced a 19.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Royce & Associates LP lessened its stake in Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG - Free Report) by 88.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,000 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 195,389 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.11% of Encore Capital Group worth $857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,588,969 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $123,675,000 after buying an additional 16,663 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $67,667,000 after purchasing an additional 327,637 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,144,464 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $39,232,000 after purchasing an additional 7,010 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 387,550 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $18,513,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968 shares during the period. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 319,210 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $15,249,000 after purchasing an additional 16,180 shares during the period.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

ECPG stock traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.07. 86,108 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 284,682. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.34. Encore Capital Group Inc has a one year low of $26.45 and a one year high of $51.77. The company has a market cap of $842.23 million, a P/E ratio of -7.39 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.63.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The asset manager reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.69. Encore Capital Group had a positive return on equity of 16.18% and a negative net margin of 8.38%. The business had revenue of $392.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $374.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Encore Capital Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Encore Capital Group presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.67.

About Encore Capital Group

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.