Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Encore Capital Group Inc $ECPG

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 87,111 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 21,208 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.38% of Encore Capital Group worth $3,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECPG. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Encore Capital Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 345.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Encore Capital Group by 83.4% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Encore Capital Group during the second quarter worth $200,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS acquired a new position in Encore Capital Group during the second quarter worth $232,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ECPG. Zacks Research raised Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Janney Montgomery Scott lifted their target price on Encore Capital Group from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.67.

Insider Transactions at Encore Capital Group

In other Encore Capital Group news, insider John Yung sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total transaction of $52,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 56,609 shares in the company, valued at $2,943,668. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Encore Capital Group Trading Down 0.2%

ECPG opened at $52.84 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $45.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.13, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Encore Capital Group Inc has a 12 month low of $26.45 and a 12 month high of $53.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.87 and a beta of 1.48.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The asset manager reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $1.25. Encore Capital Group had a positive return on equity of 25.27% and a negative net margin of 2.89%.The business had revenue of $460.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Encore Capital Group Inc will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.