Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $8.12 Million Stock Holdings in Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ECPG – Get Rating) by 1,181.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 169,312 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 156,102 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.72% of Encore Capital Group worth $8,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Encore Capital Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,957,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Encore Capital Group by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 805,693 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,946,000 after buying an additional 84,310 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Encore Capital Group by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,616 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Encore Capital Group by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,361 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after buying an additional 2,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Encore Capital Group by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,534 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 972 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Northland Securities lowered shares of Encore Capital Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “b” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. JMP Securities dropped their price target on shares of Encore Capital Group from $68.00 to $61.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.50.

Encore Capital Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ECPG opened at $44.21 on Friday. Encore Capital Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $42.50 and a twelve month high of $72.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.64. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 38.44 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 22nd. The asset manager reported ($3.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($4.54). Encore Capital Group had a return on equity of 3.52% and a net margin of 3.09%. The firm had revenue of $233.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $319.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.53 EPS. Encore Capital Group’s quarterly revenue was down 34.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Encore Capital Group, Inc. will post 5.65 EPS for the current year.

About Encore Capital Group

(Get Rating)

Encore Capital Group, Inc is an international specialty finance company, which engages in the provision of debt recovery solutions. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Europe, and Other Geographies. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in San Diego, CA.