Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Encore Capital Group from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Northland Securities set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Encore Capital Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Encore Capital Group in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Encore Capital Group from $59.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Encore Capital Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.50.

Encore Capital Group Stock Performance

Shares of ECPG opened at $68.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.62. The stock has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 1.35. Encore Capital Group has a one year low of $26.45 and a one year high of $74.58.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The asset manager reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $1.17. Encore Capital Group had a return on equity of 28.19% and a net margin of 14.52%.The business had revenue of $473.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $423.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($9.42) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Encore Capital Group will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ryan B. Bell sold 7,240 shares of Encore Capital Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.04, for a total transaction of $499,849.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 48,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,325,656.80. This trade represents a 13.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Encore Capital Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ECPG. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,139 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Encore Capital Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 66,825 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,632,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Encore Capital Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 70,836 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,957,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Encore Capital Group by 5.6% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,517 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Encore Capital Group by 185.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 717 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period.

Encore Capital Group Company Profile

Encore Capital Group, Inc is a global specialty finance company that focuses on the purchase and management of nonperforming consumer receivables. Through its subsidiaries, the company acquires charged-off debt portfolios from credit card issuers, banks, and other financial institutions, and seeks to recover outstanding balances through a combination of customer outreach, payment arrangements, and, where appropriate, legal collection efforts. Encore’s business model emphasizes compliance with regulatory and industry standards to ensure ethical and transparent debt-recovery practices.

Headquartered in San Diego, California, Encore operates across North America and Europe.