Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Encore Capital Group Inc (NASDAQ:ECPG) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $89.75.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Encore Capital Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded Encore Capital Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Citizens Jmp boosted their target price on Encore Capital Group from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Encore Capital Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Encore Capital Group from $105.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Encore Capital Group

In other news, insider John Yung sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.08, for a total value of $164,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 64,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,299,905.60. This represents a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Encore Capital Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Encore Capital Group during the 2nd quarter worth $343,229,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Encore Capital Group by 9,976.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,171,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $202,598,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150,145 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Encore Capital Group in the second quarter valued at $33,848,000. Amundi increased its stake in Encore Capital Group by 3,134.1% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 304,202 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,379,000 after purchasing an additional 294,796 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Encore Capital Group by 658.2% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 334,018 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $23,421,000 after buying an additional 289,964 shares during the last quarter.

Encore Capital Group Stock Down 4.1%

ECPG stock opened at $93.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.87. Encore Capital Group has a twelve month low of $39.94 and a twelve month high of $104.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $94.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.86.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The asset manager reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.14. Encore Capital Group had a net margin of 15.86% and a return on equity of 29.83%. The business had revenue of $491.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $455.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Encore Capital Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 13.000-14.000 EPS. Research analysts expect that Encore Capital Group will post 13.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.